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A LIFE OF JL5US 

FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 

BY MARIANNA S. RAWSON 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



A Life of Jesus for 
Boys and Girls 








Voi th of Jesus 

i ■ .. g \ v Oopyright, J. J. Timot, 1895, 1888 



A LIFE OF JESUS 

FOR BOYS AND GI RLS 



By 



Marianna S. Rawson 




PHILADELPHIA 

THE BIDDLE PRESS 

1911 






This book was inspired by the boys who 
have attended my Sunday morning class for 
the last four years. 

I dedicate it them 

and 
To my husband 

but for whom I should never have had the 
courage to write it. 



Copyright. 1911 
THE BIDDLE PRESS 



JJ.Y 



CIA 30 



*- 
*< 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER. 

i. The Boyhood of Jesus. 

2. John the Baptist. 

3. The Story of the Temptation. 

4. Jesus' Disciples. 

5. Jesus' Work as a Physician. 

6. Adventures. 

7. Jesus' Work as a Teacher. 

8. Jesus as a Story Teller. 

9. Jesus' Travels. 

10. Jerusalem. 

11. The Passion Week. 

12. Wonder Stories. 

13. Later Stories. 

14. Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail, 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Youth of Jesus 

Christ and the Doctors 

John the Baptist 

Christ and the Fishermen 

Jesus and the Rich Ruler 

Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane 

Arrival of the Shepherds 

The Wise Men on Their Way to Bethlehem 

Sir Galahad 



Tissot 

Ho/man 

Andre del Sarto 

Zimmerman 

Hofman 

Hofman 

Lerolle 

Tissot 

C. F. Watts 



v 



MAPS 



i. Palestine in the Time of Jesus 

2. Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives and Bethany 

3. The Temple (Herod's) 




Ltofirud* Etit fiom 0r*ro«1ck 



Palestine in the Time of Jesus 



Prei 



THE REASON FOR IT. 

My only excuse for adding to the numerous lives of 
Jesus for children already published is that I have sought 
in vain, in my work as a teacher, for one which presents 
his character in its simplicity and nobility, shorn of theo- 
logical trimmings. This collection of stories was written 
primarily for the class of boys whom I have met on Sunday 
mornings for the last four years. 

I have emphasized the strong bond of sympathy which 
I believe existed between Jesus and his father, Joseph, 
because it seems to me the only logical explanation of the 
portrayal of the blessings of fatherhood and sonship which 
Jesus gave to the world. The idea of the Fatherhood of 
God was not a new one. The belief that kings were 
descended from gods existed among heathen peoples cen- 
turies before Jesus was born; but never the conception of 
that close relationship which in my opinion could come only 
through the experience of love and companionship with an 
earthly father. Jesus, I believe, had the rare and priceless 
experience of a perfect understanding with his father, 
Joseph, which ripened in his mature years — when his father 
was dead and he sought that close communion with God 
which his parents had fostered in him — to a perfect under- 
standing of God the Father. It was the result of those 
beautiful years together at the carpenter's bench coupled 
with a thoroughly religious nature. The expression of this 
understanding of the Fatherhood of God came as a new 
revelation to the world and the end of its teaching is not 
yet. Could we have had fatherhood portrayed in art and 
literature as motherhood has been in the persons of Mary 
and Jesus, what might not have been the regenerative influ- 
ence ! We find in the Talmud, "Blessed is the son who has 



8 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

studied with his father, and blessed the father who has 
instructed his son.'' My knowledge of fathers and sons 
furnishes endorsement of this, as well as reason for my 
explanation of Jesus' revelation of the fatherhood of God, — 
an explanation I find suggested in "The Man Jesus," by 
John YV. Chadwick. 

"The indignity which Christian mythology has done to 
Joseph, the father of Jesus/' says Mr. Chadwick, "Jesus 
himself has recompensed to him a thousand times over by 
naming the divine providence, and love, and pity, Abba, 
Father. Never would this name have been so frequently 
upon his lips, as the expression of his highest spiritual ideal 
and with such an accent of tenderness, if his own filial 
experience had not led him to associate with it a hundred 
thoughts of gratitude and joy." 

I have emphasized also my belief that Jesus and John 
the Baptist were acquainted from their youth up, because 
that too seems the logical conclusion from a study of the 
characters of the two men. Their appreciation of each other 
and their devotion to the cause of righteousness makes theirs 
a friendship typical of all such highminded sympathy 
between young men. Blessed are we that such still exists. 

I have tried also to set before the children the trans- 
cendent character of Jesus' teaching. Other men had 
taught that right conduct only is necessary to salvation. 
Other men, also, had taken a higher step and suggested that 
right feeling should be back of the conduct; but this belief 
dominated Jesus' life and teaching in a peculiar manner. 
With him it was a deep-seated conviction that one must not 
only do right — he must feel right; that it was not enough 
to deal justly, one must love one's enemies and desire their 
welfare. This conviction so filled Jesus' heart with love 
for his fellowmen that there was room in it for no meaner 
feeling. He therefore taught that the motive for one's 
actions must be a perfect, Godlike love. This is certainly 
the highest ethical ground one could take. Such trans- 
cendent teaching must yet regenerate the world. 



Preface 9 

My great hope has been to set forth Jesus' ideal of 
peace and brotherhood in such a way that it may appear a 
desirable thing to young people whose ideals are in the 
formative stage. No doubt there is a great world move- 
ment in this direction — though it is hardly perceptible on the 
surface — a movement toward a better understanding and 
appreciation of people not like ourselves. The goal seems 
ages distant when we consider the people of different nation- 
alities, religions, traditions and ideals of which our world is 
composed ; and with a recent poet one can but 

"Marvel at Christs with their messages tender, 
Their daring dreams of a world of brothers. " 

Such are the men and women who, animated by a religion 
freed from theological impediments, are working with con- 
secration and an everbroadening understanding and sym- 
pathy for the uplift of their fellowmen. For such — and I 
rejoice in their increasing number — let us make a new 
beatitude : 

Blessed are they that serve, for they shall understand. 

I acknowledge with gratitude my indebtedness to Pro- 
fessor Nathaniel Schmidt, of Cornell University, and to 
Dr. Elbert Russell, of Earlham College, for their sane and 
lofty interpretations of Jesus' life and teachings. 




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Chapter I. 

THE BOYHOOD OF JESUS. 

Hundreds of years ago, long before America was dis- 
covered, there lived on the other side of the world from us 
a family in whom all Christian people have a very great 
interest. 

This family lived in a little country which isn't any 
larger than our State of New Hampshire, and a queer little 
country it is, for its hills are so high and its valleys so low 
that although it is as far south as some of our Southern 
States, one may often find snow at an incredibly short dis- 
tance from really tropical fruits and flowers. There is only 
one river of any consequence in this country, but there are 
a number of fine springs or fountains which seem to come 
right out of the rocks ; and there is a queer salt sea which is 
so salty that one couldn't sink in it if he tried — which of 
course he wouldn't be likely to do. It is said that a Roman 
Emperor once tried the experiment of throwing several 
slaves, chained together, into this sea, but they would not 
drown. 

It was in this queer little country of Palestine, on the 
other side of the world from us, in a queer little hillside 
town, that Joseph and his wife, Mary, lived with their 
family of children. We should think the small one-storied 
house, built of stone and plastered with mud and with only 
a hole in the roof to serve for both window and chimney, a 
very queer house indeed, and we should think the furniture 
in it queerer still. In the first place, we should be much 
surprised to find how few things seemed to be necessary 
for the family comfort. The furnishings of this Eastern 
home probably consisted of beds which were no more than 



12 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

thin mattresses to be spread out on the floor at night and 
rolled up in the day-time ; a chest in which clothes were kept 
and the top of which was used for a table; a few wooden 
bowls and cups and some earthen pitchers in the way of 
dishes, but no plates or forks or spoons; leather bottles in 
which water was carried from the fine large fountain in the 
center of the town ; a mill for grinding grain, a lamp, and a 
broom ; and a sort of furnace which was used for a stove. 
We should take more of an equipment than this if we went 
camping in these days, but for the family in Nazareth 1,900 
years ago this seems to have been quite enough. 

Still another surprise is in store for us, for this house 
which seemed quite small enough for the accommodation of 
so large a family, served another purpose as well. It was 
the carpenter shop in which Joseph worked at his trade — 
right at home. I sometimes think this was one of the best 
things about the life of the family, and a most fortunate 
thing for the children, especially for the oldest one who, as 
you all know, was the boy Jesus. What a busy life they 
must have led here in the hillside town of Nazareth ! The 
family was quite large; there were several little boys and 
girls younger than Jesus, and the father didn't make very 
much at his trade, for most of the people of the town were 
like himself — not very well-to-do. Jesus helped his father 
in the shop a great deal of the time, and there he learned to 
do very careful, honest work; for his father was a just and 
honest man, and he would allow no careless work to go out 
from his shop. Right there with them must have been the 
mother, busy with her household cares, and the younger 
children playing with the blocks and chips which fell from 
their father's bench. Often Jesus must have had to stop 
his work with the tools to shoulder the leather bottles and 
bring water from the fountain for his mother. 

His time was not all spent in the work at home, how- 
ever. He went to school at the church or synagogue, as it 
was called, and was taught by the old priest in charge. He 
had only one school book and that was the Old Testament. 



The Boyhood of Jesus 13 

I was going to say that he learned it from cover to cover, 
but that wouldn't be true, for it hadn't any covers such as 
our books have. It was a roll of paper made from the 
papyrus plant which grew in Egypt, and each end of the 
roll was attached to a stick and the paper was rolled tightly 
about these sticks. Jesus must have known the contents of 
very nearly the whole roll, for he was eager to learn. He 
knew all the stories of his country as they were told in the 
Old Testament; all about his great ancestors David and 
Solomon from whom his father was descended; about the 
friendship between the boys David and Jonathan; about 
Joseph in Egypt, and Moses, and Joshua — they were all as 
w r ell known to him as our multiplication tables are to us. 

Out of school hours and work hours, Jesus roamed over 
the hills outside of the town or played in the streets with 
other children. He knew all about the animals and birds 
and trees and flowers of the neighborhood. He liked to go 
hunting around in out of the way places for the holes of 
foxes and other small animals of the region just as boys 
to-day do. He probably knew where to look for every kind 
of bird's nest and for each flower in its turn. I've no doubt 
he came back from his tramps laden with a miscellaneous 
lot of findings in the shape of plants and stones and flowers 
and fruits — each with its own special meaning for him, for 
he was keenly alive to all the pleasing things of life and the 
flower-decked hillsides and orchards of wide-spreading fig 
trees, graceful palms and silvery olive trees furnished pic- 
tures in which he took the keenest delight. 

He never tired of the stories of his people and he no 
doubt often stood upon the hills back of the town from 
which he could see for miles around and tried to imagine 
how it w r as in times gone by when Israel was a great nation. 
Toward the north he could see Mt. Hermon in the Lebanon 
region with its cap of snow; to the west was the dazzling 
blue of the Mediterranean with purple Carmel on the 
horizon ; in the east he could see the wooded heights of Mt. 
Tabor and to the south the fertile plain of Esdraelon — 



14 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

every foot of ground with its stories of ancient victories and 
defeats. 

But perhaps the thing that interested the boy as much 
as the varied landscape around him was the long caravan 
road from Damascus to Egypt, miles of which he could see. 
Here he must have beheld frequently caravans of people of 
all nationalities in fantastic costumes making the journey, 
for purposes of trade, from Damascus to the sea ports of the 
Mediterranean or to the south. These foreigners even 
appeared at times in the streets of Nazareth, when the boy 
had a chance to examine them more closely and perhaps to 
learn something of the places from which they came. Many 
times in his tramps over the hills he must have stopped to 
picture to himself the great armies fighting for the very 
land on which he stood ; for time after time had the valley 
at his feet been the scene of bloody battles. His nation's 
history no doubt filled a large place in the boy's thoughts, 
and with it must have also been the hope that one day she 
would again occupy a commanding place. 

It was a happy life that the family lived in the simple 
home full of work, but no less full of pleasure, but I fancy 
that the best part of it for the boy was the hours spent 
working beside his father in the shop. There, I think, he 
talked over the things he was learning at school — the stories 
and laws of the Old Testament, and his father explained to 
him what they meant. There, I think, he told his father all 
about the things he discovered in his tramps over the hills ; 
there, in fact, I think Jesus told his father just about every 
thing that ever came into his mind, and Joseph w r as glad to 
hear his son's thoughts and to tell him a good many of his 
own in return. I am much inclined to think that there never 
was a boy who had a better time with his father than Jesus 
had with his; for he must have worked right with him 
several hours every day. I know boys who think that the 
finest thing in the world is to have a week ofif somewhere 
with their fathers, and a whole day together in some jaunt is 
an immense delight; but for a boy to have his father right 



The Boyhood of Jesus 15 

beside him three or four hours every day, doing the same 
thing he is doing and ready to talk with him about any of 
his interests — well, I imagine there couldn't be anything 
much more satisfying than that— and that is the great privi- 
lege that I believe Jesus had. Boys don't often have such 
an opportunity in these days — at least in our country. Girls 
more often have the companionship of their mothers, but 
very few boys can be with their fathers as I believe Jesus 
was with his. 

When Jesus was twelve years old he went with his 
father and mother to the great city of Jerusalem, three days' 
journey to the south, to attend the feast of the Passover — 
and there a curious thing happened. The boy became so 
much interested in hearing the discourses of the learned 
priests of the temple that he lingered near them a great deal 
of the time and finally began to ask them questions about the 
things they said. They in turn began to take an interest in 
him, and were greatly surprised to find how much he knew 
of the history of his people and of their laws. And well 
they might be, for besides being faithful in his work at the 
synagogue school, I believe Jesus had talked all of these 
things over with his father, and his father had helped him 
to understand them. 

When the party from Nazareth started home after the 
Passover, Jesus' parents supposing him to be with some of 
their relatives or friends who were making the same jour- 
ney, were dismayed when they reached the camping place 
for the first night, to find that he had been left behind. In 
great alarm they retraced their steps. Three days they 
looked for him and finally found him in the temple talking 
again with the doctors. He had been so much interested in 
the discussions of these priests that he had entirely forgot- 
ten about the time of going home. He was surprised that 
his parents should have looked for him anywhere else but 
in the temple, for he thought they knew that he cared more 
to learn about the religion of his people than for any of the 
sights which the great city offered. 



16 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

Jesus then returned to Nazareth with his parents, and 
he must have been very thoughtful after that, for the Bible 
tells us that he was always obedient, and as he grew older 
he "increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with 
God and man." 




fOHN THE BaI'TIST 



Andre del Sarto 



John the Baptist 17 



Chapter II. 

JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

The Bible doesn't tell us that the boy Jesus was ac- 
quainted with his cousin John who was a few months older 
and whom we know by the name of "the Baptist," but it is 
quite possible that the two boys met at the Passover Feasts 
in Jerusalem when Jesus was old enough to attend. John's 
parents lived in one of the little towns in the uplands just 
south of Jerusalem in what was called the hill country of 
Judea. His father, Zacharias, was a priest, and his mother, 
Elizabeth, came of a priestly family. They showed the 
greatest devotion in carrying on the Jewish temple service 
and believed in all that was best in the religion of their 
people. They were kind to the poor, patient, self-denying 
and careful of the feelings of others. Their home was of 
the simplest kind, but they loved each other and the God of 
their fathers and tried in every way to do His will. Their 
son was the delight of their hearts and they did all in their 
power to train him so that he would want to live in accord- 
ance with the religion of Israel. Jesus came of royal ances- 
tors, but not less to be prized was the priestly ancestry of 
John. 

John was a strong, fine fellow, as Jesus was, and like 
Jesus he was a boy who did a great deal of thinking. He, 
too, was deeply interested in the history of his people and 
shared with the Jews of his time the hatred and distrust of 
the Roman rulers into whose hands, after long years of 
distressing history, the Jordan countries had fallen. I like 
to think that Jesus and John did know each other as boys, 
although the Bible says nothing about it. I like to think 
that they met every once in a while and had a good time 



18 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

together just as such boys would be likely to do. We know 
that they must have been interested in the same sort of 
things — the out-of-doors around them; the stories of the 
Jewish people of bygone days and their welfare in their own 
days. Both boys were serious minded and both looked for- 
ward to the time when they should be men and able to do 
something for the country they loved. 

Just as Jesus was growing to manhood a sad thing 
happened. He lost the father whose companionship and 
counsel had been so much to him, and he in turn had to 
take the position of head of the family and provide for his 
mother and the younger children. 

John, who had no such demands upon him, felt that he 
must get away from people for a while and work out his 
thoughts in solitude. He accordingly went to the wilder- 
ness not far from his home, the wilderness of Judea which 
lies along the western shore of the Dead Sea, and there, 
alone and in the quiet, with only the brown cliffs with their 
scrubby bushes, the stars and the sky for company, he 
pondered over the things which troubled his mind. He 
must have had courage to live'there alone where wild beasts 
prowled around and food was scarce and hard to get. The 
Bible tells us that he lived on locusts and wild honey, which 
could not have furnished a very full table. 

John had lived near the great city of Jerusalem all his 
life. He had seen the wickedness and folly of the inhabi- 
tants and it troubled him greatly. How to make them see 
their faults and desire to live righteously was the question 
which was always in his mind. He had had the same 
schooling as Jesus, the same text book; and the result of 
his knowledge of the Old Testament was that he was a hero 
worshipper and the prophet Elijah was his hero. Like 
Elijah he wore a suit of camel's hair with a leather girdle; 
and like him he sought the solitude of the wilderness in 
which to plan his work. Stern and unrelenting in his 
manner as Elijah was, full of hatred for the wickedness of 
his time as Elijah had been, he yet recognized the lesson of 



John the Baptist 19 

the prophet's later years and realized that the hate in his 
heart must not lead him to deeds of violence ; and that only 
the slow method of teaching could have any real effect upon 
men's characters. 

Jesus, working at his carpenter's bench in Nazareth 
amid very different scenes, — a man among men in the busy 
activities of life — was no doubt pondering the same sort of 
questions and coming to the same conclusions. Perhaps the 
young men were friends at this time as we know they were 
later. I like to think of this friendship between Jesus and 
John because it was a right friendship. David and Jonathan 
loved each other, but they had not such high ideals. Theirs 
was a more selfish friendship ; but besides loving each other, 
Jesus and John felt a brotherly kindness for all men and 
the greatest desire of their hearts was to be of service in 
the world. I like to think that sometimes Jesus got away 
from the carpenter's bench for a day or two and spent some 
time under the stars with John, talking over this great 
subject which was more to them than anything else — how 
they could help people to be good. We can well imagine 
that with royal blood in his veins, Jesus did not fail to 
consider the warlike methods by which his great ancestors 
extended the religion of Israel; but we can almost follow 
the course of their reasoning as they recalled the history of 
conquests which did not last and made their final decision 
that theirs must be the slow and peaceful method of teach- 
ing. Certain it is that at sometime they had the opportunity 
of becoming well acquainted, for otherwise they would never 
have cared so much for each other. Possibly it was only 
during their public ministry together, but it seems more 
likely that it was because of a life-long friendship that Jesus 
could say that no greater man ever lived than John; and 
that it was because of years of admiration and under- 
standing of Jesus' character that John, with a following of 
multitudes demanding to know if he was the Saviour for 
whom they were looking, humbly declared that a greater 
man than he would come, the latchet of whose shoes he was 



20 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

not worthy to unloose. In nothing more than in this did 
John show his greatness. 

The scene of John's work was somewhere along the 
Jordan river. There he baptized those who wished it and 
preached to large numbers of people about doing right in 
the simple, everyday occupations of their lives ; for only in 
that way could they prepare for the kingdom of heaven 
which he hoped would soon be established upon the earth — 
a kingdom in which right would prevail and not wrong, as 
he felt was the case in the Israel around him. 

John's teaching had a wonderful influence upon the 
common people. So great was it that those in authority 
began to fear lest he should stir up some sort of insurrection 
among them ; and that, perhaps, more than anything else, led 
to his arrest and finally to his death. 

Jesus was profoundly interested in John's work and 
for a time worked with him at the Jordan, even being 
baptized by him. It was when John was put into prison that 
Jesus left the region and went northward to the towns 
around the Sea of Galilee. 



Jesus' Temptation 21 



Chapter III. 

JESUS' TEMPTATION. 

Just after Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan, he 
went to the wilderness as John had done to plan in the quiet 
the best way to proceed with his work ; for he now felt sure 
that he must give his life to teaching the people of his 
country a better way of living. Forty days and forty nights, 
the Bible says, he stayed alone and thought about the great 
work he wanted to do. He was so busy with his plans that 
either he forgot to get something to eat or felt that if he 
fasted he might do better thinking. Fasting was a common 
custom among religious men in the early days. All at once 
he became conscious that he was very hungry; and then 
came his first temptation. All about him in the scrubby 
grass lay the common round stones of the region. His eye 
fell upon them as he was looking for something he might 
use for food. He may have thought of the story of Moses 
with the Children of Israel in that other wilderness hun- 
dreds of years before, how the manna seemed to fall from 
heaven when food was needed. The great men of his race 
were no doubt much in his mind during these days of soli- 
tude. He felt that he too was to be great in his nation's 
history; that he too had unusual powers. Suddenly he 
seemed possessed to command these stones to turn into 
bread, and something within him told him that if he gave 
the command it would be obeyed. All that was necessary 
was for him to say the word and without more ado he would 
have food enough and to spare. People before his day had 
done wonderful things, so could he. Stronger and stronger 
became his desire to try his powers. Only speak, urged this 
voice within him, and the miracle will be performed. But 



22 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

just as he was on the point of giving the command, for his 
hunger was very great, another voice seemed to speak and 
to remind him that any selfish use of his powers would be 
wrong. Perhaps he remembered that it was when Moses 
was helping other people that the manna came at his need, 
and that he was great because he gave up his own comfort 
to help his people in their distress. Slowly but resolutely 
Jesus turned his thoughts away from his own desires back 
to the great problem he was trying to work out — how he 
could help the people of his time to a better kind of life. 
Possibly he satisfied his hunger with the locusts and wild 
honey John had lived upon, or he may have procured food 
from a neighboring village. The Bible says, "angels came 
and ministered unto him," for people in those days believed 
in ministering angels who brought about good things and 
evil spirits who caused misfortune. At any rate, he refused 
to use his powers in a selfish way, saying to the spirit that 
seemed to be speaking to him, "It is written that man shall 
not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." 

Soon there came another temptation. He may have 
been thinking that if he could only do some wonderful and 
surprising thing before the people, they would believe in 
him more quickly, and as soon as they believed in him and 
trusted him he would be able to help them. Suddenly he 
felt possessed as he had before by something that told him 
to go to Jerusalem, climb to the pinnacle of the temple, and 
then astonish the citizens by jumping down into the valley 
of the Kidron below. No harm could come to him, the voice 
insisted, for angels would support him so that he would 
come down very gently and easily ; but when the people had 
seen him perform this wonderful feat, they would acknowl- 
edge that he had some miraculous power which made him 
great enough to be their leader. Surely he must do this 
thing. It was right that he should publicly show his great- 
ness. How could he expect to win people's confidence unless 
he in some way gave proof of his power? Quite convinced 
that it was his duty to make this public exhibition, he was 



Jesus' Temptation 23 

on the point of starting for Jerusalem when again came the 
warning of the other voice. "Just for show/' it seemed to 
say, "and things that are done only for show are worth 
nothing at all." Again he turned away from the tempter, 
saying, 4 Tt is written again, 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord 
thy God/ " Now he knew that after all the only way to do 
effective work among these people who needed his help was 
not to make them think that he was some smart fellow who 
could work wonders, but to show them that he cared for 
them just as much as if he were their brother. Because he 
cared for them so much, he knew how to help them. 

His temptations, however, were not over. The greatest 
one was yet to come. Jesus belonged to a people who had 
a great national sorrow. Once they had been strong among 
nations — an empire that made other peoples tremble. Now 
they were weak and suffering under the yoke of foreign 
oppressors. As Jesus thought of the great nations around 
him with their wonderful civilizations, all now in the hands 
of Rome, — Egypt, Greece, Syria and his own Palestine, — 
he seemed possessed again by the tempter who asserted that 
all these great countries might be his. He was strong enough 
and great enough to be king of them all if he only would. 
If he would but gather together an army and fight these 
miserable Roman invaders he could make his country as 
great as, yes, and much greater than, it had been under the 
mighty kings David and Solomon, whose blood he had in 
his veins. He could conquer the world, if he would, and 
make an ideal empire where no one should be oppressed and 
where justice should reign at all times. He could surely 
lead an army to victory, for he was strong with such strength 
as a mighty conqueror has. It was such a conqueror and 
such a king that his people were looking for ; a messiah who 
would be their saviour. Why should he not be their king 
and their deliverer? Never before had he felt so eager to 
match his strength with that of the leaders in the world's 
conquests. It must have cost a mighty struggle to say "no" 
to this temptation, but he did it; for the warning voice 



24 A Life of Jesus for Boys axd Girls 

again reminded him of the great empires which had 
crumbled to the ground, conquests which had not lasted. 
The only thing which is sure to live is right teaching, and 
that Jesus decided must be his aim. To teach the world, 
not to conquer it, must be his work. God's lasting Kingdom 
can only be established by right teaching. Conquest by 
means of war is Satan's method and is not lasting. Then a 
great hope filled Jesus' heart — the hope that he would be 
able to teach enough people the right way of living so that 
they in turn might teach other people and so perhaps in 
time all the world would learn the great lesson of brotherly 
love and helpfulness. "Get thee behind me, Satan," he said 
to the thoughts that had threatened to lead him away from a 
life of real helpfulness, and with the great hope still in his 
heart he left the wilderness to take up his work in Galilee. 




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Jesus' Disciples 25 



Chapter IV. 

JESUS' DISCIPLES. 

While Jesus was preaching in Galilee, attracting crowds 
of listeners, there gradually formed about him a little com- 
pany of men who became his constant companions, going 
with him wherever he went. The Bible tells us that he 
made these men his disciples. A number of them were 
fishermen from the towns around the Sea of Galilee. Per- 
haps their free out-of-door life, subject to few convention- 
alities and full of manual w r ork, made them more ready to 
understand what Jesus meant w T hen he described the new 
kingdom to which he and John the Baptist were looking 
forward; for several of these fishermen had been disciples 
of John before they became followers of Jesus. These men 
seem to have formed with Jesus a little community as nearly 
like what he thought the world ought to be as they could; 
and while they lived together Jesus tried to prepare them 
for the work he expected them to do in teaching people 
about the new kingdom, which he and John had called the 
kingdom of heaven. 

There were a number of women also in the community, 
some of them relatives of the disciples, and others who were 
especially attracted by Jesus' teaching. 

The community lived simply — their few needs being 
supplied by the efforts of the fishermen, by contributions 
from friends of the cause, and by the money of those 
members who had property. What money they had was 
held in common, one of the disciples acting as treasurer. 
The Bible speaks of just twelve disciples — just as many as 
there were tribes in Israel ; but twelve was a favorite num- 
ber in olden times, and had been from the earliest days 



26 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Giri 

when the study of the stars was thought to be so important 
and one's life was supposed to be effected by the position 
of the planets in the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. 

If visitors came at meal time — people who wanted to 
learn of Jesus — the community food was gladly shared with 
all present. This led to the most exaggerated account of 
Jesus' ability to make a little food go a long way. According 
to one story 4,000 people were fed abundantly with seven 
loaves of bread and three little fishes, and another story tells 
of 5,000 people being fed with five loaves and two small 
fishes; and in both cases a number of basketfuls were left 
over. 

Each one did what work he could in the community, 
and all worked for the good of their fellowmen. No one 
insisted that his will should be the law, not even Jesus 
himself; and the consideration of the feelings of each 
member of the little colony was felt to be of the greatest 
importance. If one needed to go off and be alone for a 
while, as Jesus often did, he had the opportunity to do so, 
or if he needed to talk things over with one or two, the other 
disciples did not interfere. 

Those disciples who best understood Jesus' teaching 
soon began to help him in his work. They, too, addressed 
crowds of people, and when they were successful in healing 
diseases, as they sometimes were, they reported their suc- 
cess to Jesus with great rejoicing. He shared their joy, for 
it was just such helpfulness that he knew would bring about 
the heavenly kingdom. 

The Bible tells us a number of interesting stories about 
this community life. As reports reached Jerusalem of the 
large numbers of people who were attracted by the preaching 
of the young prophet, priests from the Southern capital 
began to visit Galilee, probably in order to find out whether 
Jesus was teaching a dangerous doctrine. One of the first 
things these learned men discovered was that the disciples 
ate with unwashed hands. To wash one's hands before 
meals was considered a religious duty rather than an act of 



Jesus' Disciples 27 

cleanliness, and any Jew who did not do it committed a sin. 
When they questioned Jesus about it he promptly told them 
that he believed in no such act as a religious performance. 
Here was a chance to teach a much needed lesson, for, 
although the Jews made such an important matter of the 
ceremony of washing their hands, their hearts were often 
very far from clean. Although they thought it most impor- 
tant to put their food into their mouths with clean hands, 
they were often not at all particular that their thoughts and 
their conversation should be clean and pure. Calling all of 
the people to him, Jesus said, "Hearken unto me, every one 
of you, and understand. Not that which goeth into the 
mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the 
mouth, this defileth a man. For those things which proceed 
out of the mouth come forth from the heart ; and they defile 
the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, 
murders, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the 
things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands 
defileth not a man." 

"Blessed are the pure in heart," said Jesus at another 
time, and by the pure in heart he meant people who would 
not tell or listen to impure stories, or use impure language 
in any way. Jesus knew, as we know now, that it is such 
language that defiles people and leads them to more defiling 
conduct. 

One Sabbath day Jesus and his disciples were walking 
through a field of grain. The disciples, being hungry, picked 
the grain, husked it between their fingers and ate it. This 
greatly shocked some of the Jews who saw it because they 
believed it to be Sabbath breaking. One of the most sacred 
laws of the Old Testament was, "Remember the Sabbath 
day and keep it holy," and many of the Jews of Jesus' day — 
as has been the case with people of every age — had a super- 
stitious regard for the words of the law. Its real meaning 
was not so important. Jesus declared to those who criticised 
this action of the disciples that the Sabbath day was made 
that man might rest one day in seven and so be strong for 



28 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

his work the other six. That the day was made for the 
convenience of man instead of man's being made for the 
day, as they seemed to think. That man has a right to 
decide what he will do on that day as on any other provided 
it be nothing wrong. Above all, let him never omit 
tc do a kindness whatever the day. Jesus himself healed 
people of diseases on the Sabbath, and did any other helpful 
thing he saw to be done. 

As it became more and more evident that Jesus put no 
faith in Jewish traditions, forms and customs, the priests 
and elders of the church had a great deal more to say 
against him, and he was constantly asked to explain his 
conduct. They found it impossible to understand why he 
should go exactly contrary to the customs of the people 
around him. He was especially criticised for his friendli- 
ness to Matthew, or Levi, the customs officer at Capernaum. 
We conclude from the story that there w r as a customs house 
at Capernaum at which travellers crossing from the other 
side of the Sea of Galilee paid toll. An officer whose duty 
it was to receive such toll was hated and despised, especially 
if he did his work honestly. This hatred was due in part 
to his being employed by the Roman rulers whom the Jews 
felt to be their enemies; in part to the fact that the tax- 
collectors were often unfair and even extortionate in their 
demands; and in part to the dislike that all people seem to 
have to paying taxes, especially the taxes of a government 
not their own. Customs officials are not looked down upon 
in our day, but the great majority of people have an objec- 
tion to paying duty on goods which they take from one 
country to another, and a great many people seem to feel 
that it is not dishonest to cheat the government, even though 
it may happen to be their own. 

In Jesus' time customs officials were social outcasts, and 
respectable people would have nothing to do with them. 
Such an outcast was Levi, or Matthew, as he was sometimes 
called, when Jesus who had just come across the Sea of 
Galilee, probably went to him to pay his toll. This slight 



Jesus' Disciples 29 

business transaction would give quite enough time for a 
man of Jesus' keen perception to see the discontent in the 
heart of the tax-collector. And Levi, no doubt, was ac- 
quainted with the new teaching, for Jesus had frequently 
worked with the fishermen down on the shore where Levi 
was stationed to receive the customs. At any rate, he 
responded to the simple command, "Come and follow me," 
and he became one of Jesus' leading disciples. More than 
that, he was the means of many more men of the same 
occupation coming to hear Jesus. In spite of the common 
feeling of dislike for such men, Jesus entertained them with 
the customary Eastern hospitality, — a thing which the Jew- 
ish authorities could in no way understand. They accord- 
ingly questioned the disciples as to why their master ate and 
talked with people whom no one respected. Jesus' answer 
to the question was just what we should expect from one 
who was always trying to give comfort where it was most 
needed. "It is the sick who are in need of a physician," he 
said, "not those who are well. I came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners, to repentance!" It was the cause of 
great sorrow to Jesus that his people had for their teachers 
such men as these sleek, well-fed officials of the church. 
Very strict were they in the observance of all of the forms 
of their religious worship. Every sacrifice was made in 
accordance with the Jewish customs of centuries before; 
but they gave no thought to the needs of the suffering men 
and women around them. Truly with such as these in 
charge his people were as sheep without a shepherd ; and so 
it was that he lived with these chosen followers in order 
that he might teach them to be helpful friends to the people 
around them. "Come with me," he said to the fishermen 
disciples, "and I will make you fishers of men." 



30 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 



Chapter V. 

JESUS' WORK AS A PHYSICIAN. 

Perhaps by nothing so much as by the healing of 
diseases did Jesus endear himself to the people around him. 
The Bible tells of many cases where people were sick and 
Jesus was able to cure them, and there is no reason to doubt 
his ability in this line. In every age there have been people 
who were able to cure bodily ailments without medicine. In 
this day we call it mental healing, and we find people more 
interested in it now, perhaps, than ever before, for scientists 
are studying more and more the power of the mind over the 
body, in the hope that they may learn to help people in the 
same way Jesus did. A number of churches have added 
mental healing to their work, and doctors and ministers are 
working together to help people to have better health. Sick- 
ness and suffering are everywhere, and to make people well 
and strong is to do them a very real service. 

The Bible writers have a quaint way of telling of these 
times when Jesus made people well. They tell of one time 
when he was preaching in the synagogue in Capernaum 
when there was a man in the congregation who had an 
"unclean spirit" in him. From the description given of the 
man's behavior, we conclude that he had some sort of 
nervous trouble which made him hysterical at times. At 
any rate, he made a great disturbance in the synagogue and 
Jesus was able to calm him and cure him of his attacks. 
The Bible writer speaks of such cures as "casting out 
devils," and surely the man must have felt in his relief as 
if he had gotten rid of some dreadful spirit which had had 
possession of him. 

We can well imagine that the people who knew of this 
cure thought it a very wonderful thing, and talked a great 



Jesus' Work as a Physician 31 

deal about it, so that many sick people came to Jesus to be 
healed. On that same day, the Bible tells us, after Jesus 
was through preaching in the synagogue, he went with two 
of his disciples, James and John, to visit at the home of two 
other disciples, Simon and Andrew, who were brothers. 
There he found the family in great distress, for the mother 
of Simon's wife was very sick with some sort of fever. 
James and John, who had witnessed the cure of the man in 
the synagogue, eagerly pressed Jesus to use his power here 
also. Accordingly, he went into the sick room, gently took 
the hot hand of the sufferer in his own, and lifted her until 
she stood upon her feet. From that moment the fever left 
her and she was able to take her place in the family and 
serve her guests in the hospitable manner which we know 
was common in that Eastern land. Indeed it must have been 
a busy time in the Capernaum household that Sabbath day, 
for after the sun had set so that the heat was not so great, 
all the sick and suffering people of the city were brought to 
Jesus in the hope that he might cure them. They gathered 
in great numbers around the doorway while Jesus went 
about among them, giving them words of comfort and 
encouragement, healing many of their diseases and casting 
out "unclean spirits" from some who were afflicted as the 
man in the synagogue had been. 

Jesus must have felt the need of quiet and rest after 
meeting and helping so many people, for very early the 
next morning he left the city and went away into a desert 
place where he might be alone to pray to God for strength 
to do the great work he had to do. Certainly nothing in 
his life could have brought him greater satisfaction than 
his ability speedily to relieve sickness and suffering, but 
that was not the thing he longed most to do, and we can 
well imagine him alone in the desert, praying fervently 
for the greater power which would enable him to teach 
these people who trusted him to so love each other that 
the great desire of their hearts would be to lessen suffering 
in the world as he was doing; for he knew that if they 



32 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

really loved each other as he loved them, they too would 
be able to do the things they thought so wonderful in him. 

Jesus was not allowed to remain in solitude very long. 
His disciples soon came to look for him, telling him that 
everybody was eagerly watching for his return; for the 
people realized that they had never known anyone before 
who could help them and comfort them as he had done. 

The Bible gives us a number of other stories about 
Jesus healing people who were sick. Once when he was 
teaching in a house in Capernaum in a room so full that 
no one else could enter, four men arrived carrying a sick 
man on a bed. The sick man had the palsy. When the 
men who were carrying him found that they could not 
bring him in by the door, they uncovered the roof of the 
house and let him down into the middle of the room where 
Jesus sat. Their efforts were certainly rewarded, for the 
story tells us that at Jesus' command the palsied man stood 
up, and when he found that he could not only stand, but 
walk, he picked up the cot upon which he had been carried, 
and took it home. 

There are also stories about blind men who were made 
to see and deaf and dumb men who were made to hear 
and to speak. 

So great was the enthusiasm of the people for these 
works of Jesus that we find things recorded that seem to 
us impossible. There are stories that tell how Jesus brought 
people back to life after they had died. When we read of 
such things we must remember that these accounts were 
written a good many years after Jesus' death, and possibly 
those referred to were not really dead but were only asleep 
as Jesus sometimes said they were, although their friends 
believed them dead. It has frequently happened that people 
have been apparently killed by drowning and then resusci- 
tated several hours after they were taken out of the water. 
Something of this kind may have occurred in the case of 
Lazarus, and the widow of Nain's son, and the daughter of 
Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum. 



Jesus' Work as a Physician 33 

However that may have been, the people were certainly 
filled with enthusiasm for this new friend who seemed to 
be able to help them in any emergency. Some said, "A great 
prophet has arisen among us," and others, "God Himself 
has visited His people/' It is little wonder that they thought 
so, for never before had they met anyone whose love for 
them was so great that he could understand just how to 
help them. Surely it seemed as if God Himself had come 
to live among them. 



34 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 



Chapter VI. 
ADVENTURES. 

One of the most thrilling experiences recorded of 
Jesus and his disciples in the Bible is the story of the 
tempest on the Sea of Galilee. This sea is 682 feet below 
the level of the Mediterranean and the climate on its shores 
is tropical; but a number of high mountains rise from its 
sides and on these heights the air is cold. This great differ- 
ence in temperature in the region of the lake makes it 
subject to sudden and exceedingly dangerous storms. Tour- 
ists tell us that the natives will take one all around the lake, 
skirting the shore, for a couple of dollars; but they can 
hardly be hired to attempt the trip across — a much shorter 
distance — because of the sudden storms. The boats on the 
lake are broad with easily shifted sails. Of course the 
fishermen disciples were well acquainted with these boats 
and knew how to handle them. Jesus, too, was acquainted 
with them, for he had been on the lake frequently with his 
friends. He often preached from their boats while the 
people stood around him on the shore. 

One evening, after a very full day spent in preaching 
and helping the many people who had come to him, Jesus 
asked his disciples to take him across the lake for a little 
rest. As soon as they left the shore he lay down in the 
boat and went to sleep, exhausted after his great labor. 
Hardly had they gotten out into the lake when the clouds 
gathered above them in a thick, black mass and dropped 
lower and lower until they seemed about to smite the sur- 
face of the water. The waves became furious and these 
hardy sailors who were wont to feel as much at home on 
water as on land, found themselves almost unable to manage 



Adventures 35 

the boat. Suddenly their courage left them and terror- 
stricken they called to Jesus to save them. 

Jesus sprang to his feet. The sail was already closely 
furled, but the waves were dashing furiously over the sides 
of the boat and the men seemed unable to keep it steady 
with the oars because of the high wind. Jesus took in the 
situation at a glance. He w r as a man of action, and in this 
case he acted so quickly that in an incredibly short time the 
men found themselves in calm water and the danger past. 
It seems probable to us who look back over nearly 2,000 
years to this incident on the Galilean lake that Jesus grasped 
an oar and, shouting to his companions to pull for their 
lives, filled them with fresh courage; and together they 
quickly pulled the boat into the calm water in the lee of 
the shore. It may have been, however, that the wind 
dropped as quickly as it had arisen, for that sometimes 
happens in these storms. At any rate, safety was gained so 
speedily that the sailors thought Jesus had saved their lives 
by a miracle, and when they told the story afterwards they 
said he commanded the winds and the waves to be still and 
they obeyed him. 

We can well imagine that as they rested on their oars 
in the grateful calm, these companions in peril eagerly 
thanked Jesus for bringing them safely through the great 
danger; but Jesus was disappointed. These were strong 
men, used to hardships. He had thought of them as cour- 
ageous, as having a confidence in their own strength which 
would never let them give way to fear. He received their 
thanks coolly and with a fine scorn for their weakness. There 
are times in every man's life which call for the utmost cour- 
age, and if he allows fear ever to have a hold upon him he 
will lack that courage at the moment when he needs it most. 
His courage must be so great at all times that there is no 
room in his heart for fear. Jesus had expected of these 
hardy fishermen a bravery that would never leave them — a 
courage that would make them strong in any emergency. 
"O vou of little faith!" he exclaimed, "Why are you so 
fearful?" 



36 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

The disciples felt the rebuke. They had been weak 
when they should have been strong; cowards when they 
should have been heroes. Ashamed and in silence they 
rowed to the shore. 

Here another thrilling adventure awaited them; for 
just as they landed there came to meet them a man who was 
a fearful maniac. Time and time again he had been bound 
with chains to keep him from doing injury, but he was so 
strong that he broke all the chains and escaped to live in 
the tombs in the neighboring mountains. Here he lived 
almost naked and alone in a horrible condition, a constant 
terror to the people of the vicinity. Believing as they did 
in those days in possession by evil spirits, they thought that 
he must be possessed with a great many such spirits, for 
he spent his time wildly crying and wounding himself with 
stones. It was this dreaded creature who met Jesus and his 
disciples as they pulled their boat up to the shore. Here 
again was need of great courage and Jesus' courage was not 
wanting. Quietly he faced the maniac, and in a calm, com- 
manding voice ordered him to sit down beside him. Then 
in the coolness of the evening he talked to the man and 
cured him of his awful infirmity. When the people of the 
neighborhood saw him again he was clothed like themselves 
and in his right mind. So grateful was he for his release 
from what seemed to him the torment of great numbers of 
evil spirits that he besought Jesus to let him go with him 
and be one of his disciples; but Jesus advised him to go 
home to his friends and tell them what a great thing the 
Lord had done for him. We can well imagine that he also 
advised him to use his health and strength in the service 
of the people to whom he had so long been a terror. The 
Bible tells us that the man did return to his friends, and he 
must have prepared the way in some measure for Jesus' 
later teaching on that side of the lake by telling of the 
wonderful power that could help one, even in such a sad 
plight as his had been. 

It is probably due to the fact that swine were consid- 



Adventures 37 

ered unclean animals by the Jews that we have the tradition 
that these demons or "unclean spirits" which were supposed 
to afflict the man fled from him into a herd of swine feeding 
nearby and caused them to run into the sea and be drowned. 



38 



A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 



Chapter VII. 
JESUS' WORK AS A TEACHER. 

We sometimes hear Jesus spoken of as "the great 
physician/' but more often he is called "the great teacher." 
Sometimes he preached to the people around him, but his 
sermons were more like the talks of a teacher to his pupils 
than the discourse of a minister to his congregation. He 
was always telling people what they should do and how 
they should live, for his one desire was to teach them to 
live in such a way that the new kingdom — the kingdom of 
heaven — would be established upon the earth. He felt 
sure that the time had come for it, for the world as he knew 
it in the little country of Palestine was evidently in need 
of a better kind of life. His work was to show the way 
to find it. 

The Bible tells us that when Jesus saw what large 
numbers of people were coming to hear him he realized that 
he could not do all of the teaching himself, so he gathered 
his disciples about him on the side of one of the mountains 
near Capernaum and told them just what the new kingdom 
would be like and how to prepare for it in order that they 
might help him teach other people about it. These instruc- 
tions are called "The Sermon on the Mount," and in them 
we find a large part of Jesus' teaching. 

We can imagine him seated on the mountain side with 
his disciples facing him and just back of them several rows 
of other interested people ; while a miscellaneous crowd was 
scattered about the outskirts of the group, some attracted 
by the reports of Jesus' ability to heal sick people, and 
others there simply because it was the popular thing to 
follow the young prophet. It is quite possible that Jesus 
sat in silence for a while, absorbed in thoughts of the great 



Jesus' Work as a Teacher 39 

work he had planned to do. Perhaps he was thinking of 
the men who would never know the kingdom he was trying 
to establish. Everywhere in his country he saw the proud 
citizens of Rome — men who could witness bull fights and 
great gladiatorial combats with never a sympathetic thought 
for the unfortunate victims. Such as they would never 
know the heavenly kingdom. Perhaps he thought also of 
the scribes of the temple, his own countrymen, men who 
were so intent upon the written laws of the Old Testament 
that they were blind to the needs of the people of their 
own time. The kingdom was not for such as they. He may 
have thought also of those other countrymen of his, the 
self-righteous Pharisees, men who were so absorbed in 
carrying out the forms of the Jewish worship that they 
failed to hear God speaking in their own hearts. No, the 
kingdom was not for the proud, the cruel, the careless. 
They could never know the happiness of the kingdom of 
God. Presently Jesus began to speak, and his first words 
seem to show that he had been thinking of these men who 
would never live in the new kingdom, for he said, "Blessed 
are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is for 
them." Then he proceeded to tell his disciples who the 
"poor in spirit" are. They are people who are as sorry for 
others in distress as they would be for themselves if they 
had experienced some great sorrow. We call it being sym- 
pathetic. They are people who are meek and forgiving and 
who are always wanting to be good and to do good — Jesus 
called it hungering and thirsting after righteousness. They 
are people who are kind and merciful and pure in heart; 
and they are people who work to bring peace on the earth. 
These people whom Jesus called the poor in spirit and whom 
he said would know the happiness of the kingdom of heaven 
are people who are so brave that they will do what is right 
even though they know they will have to suffer for it. Pain 
and death, even, are easier for them than wrongdoing. 

Then Jesus told his disciples that they must help him 
spread a knowledge of this new kingdom; that they must 



4 o 



A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 



tell people what kind of men and women they must be in 
order to have the happiness of this new kind of life. "Ye 
are the salt of the earth," he said to them, "but if the salt 
has lost its savor, it is good for nothing but to be cast out 
and trodden under the foot of men." In Jesus' time, salt 
was the only substance to be had for preserving food. It 
was taken from the ground and was always mixed with 
earth instead of being in pure crystals as we have it. If 
for any reason the salt became dissolved, the earth which 
was left was useless and was thrown away. It w r as to this 
kind of salt that Jesus compared his disciples and told them 
that if they failed to teach other people as he had taught 
them, they would be like the salt that has "lost its savor." 

He told his disciples, moreover, that not only were they 
to teach men that they must be kind and forgiving and pure 
in heart and peaceable in order to live in the new r kingdom, 
but they must set an example by being so themselves. "Let 
your light so shine before men," he said, "that they may see 
your good works: for you are the light of the world." 

Next Jesus told his disciples that they must live accord- 
ing to a fuller, better law than the laws of the Old Testa- 
ment. Those had been good for the old days, but the time 
had come for one which was more just than any of those 
had been. "Whatsoever you would that men should do to 
you, do ye even so to them," said Jesus, and although he 
said it nearly 2,000 years ago, the world has never found 
a better law than this which well merits the name of the 
Golden Rule. 

Jesus then showed his disciples in what way his law 
was better than the Old Testament laws. In former times 
if a man killed another man he was brought up for trial 
before the little court of seven judges in his community, 
but Jesus taught that if a man became angry with another 
man he committed a fault great enough for such a trial. 
He believed that every effort should be made to put an end 
to anger before it leads to deeds of violence and in the 
hope of doing this he would bring the matter before the 



Jesus' Work as a Teacher 41 

court. He saw that if the first anger could be stopped, the 
dreadful crimes which are the result of anger would never 
be committed. He went even further than this. He saw 
that the anger itself might be prevented if every one would 
try to right the wrongs he sees, even though he is not to 
blame for them. If people had disagreements of any kind, 
Jesus advised them to come to some understanding with 
each other if possible without taking the matter to the 
court, for lawsuits in his day as in ours meant great expen- 
diture of time and money and more often resulted in lasting 
ill-feeling than perfect justice. 

Jesus then instructed his disciples about the taking of 
oaths. In olden times a great deal of dishonesty was due 
to the fact that some oaths were considered binding and 
some were not. Jesus saw that the only way to be rid of 
this kind of injustice was to insist upon the telling of the 
truth at all times, regardless of the taking of oaths. "Swear 
not at all," he said, "but let your communication be, Yea, 
yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than this cometh of 
evil." 

Jesus believed that people should have such a kindly 
feeling toward one another that they would always want to 
be helpful. If a man wrongs you in any way, whether he 
strike you in the face, or take away your coat, or compel 
you to go a mile with him, do not hate him because of it, 
and try to get even with him as people were taught to do in 
the old days, but try to find out why he has wronged you, 
and lead him if possible to want to do better things. If a 
man is so angry that he hits you on the cheek, don't hit 
back, advised Jesus, and make him more angry still. Try 
the plan of turning your other cheek also, for perhaps you 
may in that way convince him that you will have no quarrel 
with him. At least he will understand that you do not mean 
to fight. If in a lawsuit he has succeeded in taking your 
coat from you, give him your cloak too. Far from being a 
fool, you may by your kindly spirit make a better man of 
him. If he makes you go a mile with him, go further, in 



42 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

order to talk matters over and see if you can help him. 
"You have heard it said/' continued Jesus, "that you should 
love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say unto 
you, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you." 
Only in this way, Jesus told them, could they be children of 
the Father which is in heaven, and belong to His kingdom, 
for He has a perfect love for everybody, and to be His 
children their love must be perfect like His. A neighbor in 
Jesus' time meant a person of one's own race. According 
to the Old Testament law a Jew must love a Jew but hate 
a Gentile. According to Jesus' new law, one must love 
everybody, whatever his nationality, for only in that way 
can the world be a really good place in which to live. Jesus 
taught us to look forward to the time when not only 
individuals but nations would want to be friendly and 
helpful to each other. No war will then be possible and 
each nation can devote itself to the best development of its 
people and its country instead of, as in our time, spending 
vast sums of money upon armies and navies w r hile the people 
often suffer for want of food. Nations now spend millions 
of dollars making and fitting up war vessels when vast 
numbers of their own people are paid too little for their 
labor to buy the necessaries of life. Jesus' great desire was 
to teach the people to so love each other that such a condi- 
tion of affairs could not exist. He lived nearly 2,000 years 
ago and the world has not yet learned his lesson, but the 
time is coming when all nations will see the folly and waste 
of using money for preparations for war and turn their 
resources to the good government of the people at home 
instead of to the destruction of people abroad. Already, 
in spite of this immense outlay for war preparations, there 
is a great world movement toward peace. Peace Confer- 
ences have been held at The Hague and have created a 
permanent Court of Arbitration before which any nations 
of the world can appear to settle their disputes by peaceful 
instead of warlike methods, and the usefulness of such a 
court will no doubt increase as the years go on. 



Jesus' Work as a Teacher 43 

Jesus instructed his disciples that when they helped 
people who needed financial assistance they must do it so 
quietly that no one else would know about it — so that the 
feelings of the persons in distress would not be wounded. 
He told them that when they prayed to God it was better 
to do it when no one would see or hear them, that God knows 
what we have need of before we ask it, and that it is 
because it strengthens our desire to do right that prayer is 
a good thing. Jesus objected very much to the public 
prayers of the priests of the synagogues because he knew 
that they prayed in order to impress people with their 
goodness and not to make themselves better. He told his 
disciples that they should pray for four things : the coming 
of the new kingdom, bread enough for each day's food, a 
forgiving frame of mind, and strength to resist temptation ; 
and these are just the things needed to make men good men 
and the world a good world. This prayer, which we know 
as "The Lord's Prayer," is used a great deal in our church 
services, but Jesus emphasized the fact that we must pray 
for these things when we are alone rather than when we are 
with people, for it is when we are alone that we are more 
likely to really feel the desire for help from God. 

In Jesus' time, as in our own, the corrupting influence 
of seeking riches was very apparent. Jesus knew that the 
people who were intent upon getting rich were not the kind 
of people who would know the happiness of the kingdom 
of God. They were often so selfish that they were cruel in 
their treatment of others. They were so intent upon their 
own welfare that they did not see the sufferings of others. 
Jesus watched their selfishness and injustice with deep 
sorrow. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth," 
was his warning to the disciples, "where moth and rust doth 
corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, but lay 
up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth 
nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break 
through and steal, for where your treasure is there wall 
your heart be also. Seek first the kingdom of God and his 



44 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

righteousness and all the other things will then be added." 
According to Jesus' new law, one cannot seek anything first 
but the kingdom of heaven, for if he treats other people as 
he would like to be treated he cannot try in a selfish way to 
get riches or anything else. He will try to be very just in 
everything he does. Think for a moment what a difference 
it would make in the world if Jesus' new law were followed 
in men's business transactions. The men who dig the iron, 
coal and silver from our mines are exposed to the greatest 
peril and often suffer terrible deaths because the mine 
owners will not spend the necessary money for proper 
precautions against accident to their workmen. Money to 
them is of more importance than human lives, and because 
of their selfish desire for wealth they are not willing to 
treat the men who work for them and who make their 
wealth possible as they themselves would like to be treated. 
In the factories of our country there are thousands of little 
children working long hours over tasks which prevent them 
from growing up into well developed men and women 
because the men who make their money from these factories 
do not live by the golden rule. In very many of our depart- 
ment stores there are women and girls working for wages 
which are too small for them to procure the bare necessaries 
of life because the men who own the stores are selfishly 
trying to get wealth instead of seeking the kingdom Jesus 
taught about. All over the country, this fine, big, free 
United States of which for many reasons we may well feel 
proud, men and women are working long weary hours with 
little pay in order that others may have great fortunes. It 
was the same sort of injustice that filled Jesus' heart with 
sorrow in Palestine. It was a dream of a world of brothers 
where men would be just to one another that filled his life 
with a love of doing good. 

When we study Jesus' teaching we cannot help seeing 
how strongly he felt that in order to really do right one 
must feel right. In order to treat others as we should like 
to be treated we must have the best of feelings toward them. 



Jesus' Work as a Teacher 45 

Jesus taught that one must not feel angry no matter how 
unjustly one is treated. He believed that thoroughly and 
he believed it to the bitter end; for in the face of the terrible 
injustice of his cruel death he prayed to the Father to 
forgive those who were killing him. Never did he allow an 
evil to continue when he could put a stop to it; but he 
taught men that to overcome evil in the world they must 
have right feelings toward the evildoers — they must love 
their enemies. 

Right feeling is necessary to right doing. One's con- 
duct is only half right unless one's feeling is right, too. 
This is the most important point in Jesus' teaching. 



46 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 



Chapter VIII. 
JESUS AS A STORY TELLER. 

Among the crowds that gathered around Jesus to see 
his wonderful works and hear about the new 7 Kingdom were 
people of all ages — old men and young men, old women and 
young women, boys and girls and even little children. 
Everyone liked to be near him and to hear him talk. He 
especially liked to have children about him, and mothers 
often brought their little ones to him because they knew it 
would make them happy to look into his kindly face 
and hear the stories that he told to help the people under- 
stand about the Kingdom of Heaven. They were stories 
that everybody liked, for they were about the things they 
were all acquainted with and they could understand just 
what he meant. 

After he had instructed his disciples about the behavior 
necessary for the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus told them a 
story to show the difference between the men who live 
according to his new law and those who know the law but 
do not try to follow it. 

Jesus himself had been a carpenter and knew all about 
building houses. He knew how necessary it was to have a 
firm foundation upon which to build, and so did his hearers. 
What he wanted to teach them was that a good life, like a 
good house, must have a firm foundation. "Whosoever 
cometh to me/' he said, "and heareth my sayings and doeth 
them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a 
man which built a house and digged deep and laid the 
foundation on a rock : and when the flood arose, the stream 
beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it, for 
it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth and 



Jesus as a Story Teller 47 

doeth not is like a man that without a foundation built a 
house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat 
vehemently and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that 
house was great." 

Jesus told the people a number of stories to show them 
that life in the new Kingdom would be much better than 
the kind of life they were then living. Once he compared 
the Kingdom to a rich treasure which a man found hidden 
in a field. So great was his joy that he hid it again and 
hastened to go and sell everything he owned in order to buy 
the field and possess the treasure. In Palestine there were 
few places beside the Temple where one could deposit 
valuables. Many people, therefore, buried such things in 
the ground for safe keeping. It frequently happened that 
the person who buried the treasure never dug it up and 
someone else found it. Even at the present time there are 
often found in Palestine little heaps of money which have 
lain buried for hundreds, or even thousands of years. 

Another time he compared the Kingdom to a beautiful 
pearl. There was once a merchant who was trying to find 
"goodly" pearls. At last he found one which just suited 
him, but it was held at a very great price. So great was his 
desire to possess it, however, that he sold everything that 
belonged to him and bought the pearl. Such will be the 
Kingdom of God — a most valuable treasure, a pearl of great 
price! So great will be the joy of the new life that men 
will be willing to give up everything else in order to 
possess it. 

Then he told them some stories to show how the King- 
dom would increase when others began to help him teach 
about it. All over Palestine the mustard plant grew, a 
familiar plant to everyone. It comes from a very small 
seed, but grows to be a large, leafy shrub or small tree, 
which birds often use for their nesting places. 

"How shall we liken the Kingdom of God?" said Jesus. 
"It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is sown 
upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are 



48 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

upon the earth, yet when it is sown groweth up and beareth 
greater than all the herbs and putteth out great branches; 
so that the birds of Heaven can lodge under the shadow 
thereof. ,, 

And another time he said : "The Kingdom of Heaven 
is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three 
measures of meal, till all was leavened. " Everyone knew 
how the leaven or yeast worked in bread, for every house- 
wife made her own bread, even grinding the grain for it; 
and the dough set to rise in a wooden bowl, with a cover 
which looked like a closely woven basket, was a familiar 
sight in Palestine. 

When a boy, Jesus watched the shepherds with their 
flocks of sheep or goats on the hillside around Nazareth. 
Armed with a long staff, each shepherd called his sheep 
from the fold in the morning, and each sheep responded to 
its name and in a long line they followed their shepherd to 
the green patch of pasture land where they were to spend 
the day. At midday the shepherd led his flock to some 
spring or well for water. After a little rest he led them 
back to the feeding place, and at night they were taken to 
the fold again. The shepherd had to be very watchful for 
wolves, jackals and bears were always lurking around to 
carry off any member of the flock that got a little separated 
from the others. Often the younger lambs found it hard to 
keep up with the older and stronger sheep. These the 
shepherd had to carry in his arms, giving each one in turn 
a little rest. The grassy shrub-clad hillside on which the 
sheep fed was called the wilderness, and was used in com- 
mon by all the shepherds from the neighboring town. When 
the people expressed surprise that Jesus should entertain 
the hated tax collectors, and even people who were known 
to be wicked, he answered them in this way : 

"What man of you having one hundred sheep, if he lose 
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the 
wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it? 
And when he hath found it he layeth it on his shoulders, 



Jesus as a Story Teller 49 

rejoicing. And when he cometh home he calleth together 
his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with 
me, for I have found my sheep which was lost/' Because 
Jesus cared for sinful and outcast people in much the same 
way that a shepherd cares for the sheep who stray from his 
flock, he is often called 'The Good Shepherd/' 

In order to show the women who were listening to 
him that there were people whom they should care for in 
the same helpful way, he continued : "What woman having 
ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a 
candle and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find 
it? And when she hath found it she calleth her friends 
and neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have 
found the piece which I had lost." The poorer people in 
Palestine lived in houses that had no windows and so were 
very dark. The women wore what few coins they possessed 
strung on a string around their necks, and Jesus had prob- 
ably seen their careful searching with candles when they 
were so unfortunate as to lose some of their small store, 
and their rejoicing when it was found. It was such care 
as a shepherd used in finding his lost sheep and as a woman 
used in finding a lost piece of money, that he believed 
everyone should use in bringing back to the right path those 
who had gone astray and done wicked things. A joy such 
as the shepherd and the owner of the silver felt should be 
in the heart of everyone who has been able to so help his 
unfortunate or sinful fellowmen that they have been re- 
stored to right ways of living. 

Here, again, the world has not yet learned the lesson 
Jesus tried to teach. When a person is arrested for wrong- 
doing, he is shut up in a cell in a prison, to stay a certain 
number of months or years for punishment. Often the cell 
is dark and damp and the confinement works great injury 
to his health. In many of our prisons almost no provision 
is made for bathing and the cells are often full of vermin. 
Little nourishing food is provided, and there is absolutely 
no chance for a man's becoming better from such a punish- 



50 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

ment. Nearly always he returns to the same kind of life, 
or a worse one. Time after time he is arrested and placed 
in the same unwholesome confinement. Governments will 
learn some day that only cleanly, wholesome, sunlit prisons, 
with every effort made upon the part of the authorities to 
teach a better life, can be effective in making right doers of 
people who have done wrong; and only such treatment of 
criminals can preserve the safety of the community at large. 
There are people who have learned Jesus' lesson as to the 
proper care of the sinful and unfortunate, and they are 
trying to make things better; but they need the assistance 
of every citizen. Everyone should take the trouble to find 
out whether the prison of the community in which he lives 
is clean and well kept, and whether the people who have 
charge of it are people who will make the prisoners better 
men and women. There should be people in charge who 
will take as much care in their efforts to change people from 
wrong doers to right doers, as the Good Shepherd takes to 
find His lost sheep. The criminal is truly a lost man unless 
some great-hearted, kindly person becomes a friend to him 
and helps him to find the right path of life again. Because 
Jesus knew how to be such a friend, he was called ''The 
Good Shepherd. " 

The best story Jesus told to illustrate the joy that every- 
one should feel when a wrong doer changes to a right doer 
is the Story of the Prodigal Son. Jesus and his father had 
loved each other so dearly, that after he w r as grown up and 
his father was dead and he felt God speaking in his heart 
and telling him to be kind and helpful to the people around 
him, it seemed to him just as if his father were speaking to 
him and telling him to be kind and helpful to his brothers 
and sisters. Because of this, he often spoke of God as his 
father and of his fellowmen as his brothers. The Story of 
the Prodigal wSon shows how close Jesus felt to his own 
father, and how as a boy he must have told him all of his 
troubles. It shows, also, how near he believed God to be to 
him, and how glad he felt God always was when anyone 



Jesus as a Story Teller 51 

who had been doing wrong changed and began to do right. 
This is the story: 

There was once a man who had two sons, and the 
younger one said to his father, "Father, give me the portion 
of goods that falleth to me," and the father divided his 
fortune between the two. Not many days after this the 
younger son took all of his money and went into a distant 
country. There he lived in a most extravagant way, wasting 
his wealth and spending his time in careless, and even 
sinful, behavior. At last his money was all spent and there 
came a great famine in the land, and he suffered for want 
of food. In great distress he finally went to a citizen of 
the country and hired himself as a servant. He was em- 
ployed to feed the swine in the fields, but he was still very 
hungry; so hungry that even the husks that the swine fed 
upon looked good to him. But still no one gave him any- 
thing to eat. While he was watching the swine eat the 
husks, he suddenly remembered who he was. The Bible 
says "he came to himself." He remembered that he had a 
father at home and that in his household there was always 
plenty to eat. Every servant, even, had enough and some 
to spare, while he, the son, was perishing with hunger. How 
foolish he had been to leave the father who loved him, and 
go away and live the selfish, useless life he had lived. He 
decided that he would go immediately to his father again 
and tell him how foolish and sinful he had been and ask 
him to let him be one of his servants, for he felt that he was 
not worthy to be his son. So he went back to his own 
country and to his father's house. His father saw him 
coming when he was a long way off, and he was overjoyed, 
for he had missed him sadly. He ran to meet his son and 
embraced him and kissed him, for he loved him very much. 
The young man's behavior had been such, however, that he 
could not share his father's joy. He said to him sorrow- 
fully, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy 
sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make 
me as one of thy hired servants." But his father would 



52 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

listen to no such proposal. He called a servant and said to 
him, "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and put a 
ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And bring hither 
the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. For 
this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is 
found/' And they began to have a great celebration in 
honor of the young man's return. In the meantime, the 
elder brother had been at work in a field some distance from 
home. When he had finished his work and was returning 
to the house, he heard the music and the dancing, and called 
one of the servants to ask what it meant. "Thy brother is 
come," replied the servant, "and thy father hath killed the 
fatted calf because he hath received him safe and sound." 
At this the elder brother became very angry and refused to 
go in the house and take part in the festivities. When his 
father learned this, he came out to his son and entreated 
him to go in and join in the merrymaking. But the son 
answered, "Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither 
transgressed I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou 
never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my 
friends. But as soon as this thy son was come which hath 
devoured thy living, thou hast killed for him the fatted 
calf." His father looked upon him sorrowfully; his words 
troubled him greatly. He knew that what his son had said 
was quite true. His elder son had always been a comfort 
to him. Together they had lived and worked and he loved 
him with a love such as only a parent can give to the child 
who has always been honest, straightforward and loving in 
return. It distressed him greatly that his son did not 
realize how dear he was to him, — dearer to him than his 
own life. "Son," he replied, "thou art ever with me and all 
that I have is thine. It is meet (right) that we should make 
merry and be glad for this thy brother was dead and is 
alive again, and was lost and is found." 

In this great world where God is our Father and all 
men are our brothers, Jesus would teach us that God needs 
good men to make the world into a heavenly kingdom. 



Jesus as a Story Teller 53 

They are his elder sons who are always with him, and all 
of his Kingdom is theirs. They are the elder brothers 
whose privilege it is to guide the younger ones and help 
them "come to themselves" when they have gone astray 
and done evil things. It is right that they should be very 
glad when any of these younger brothers change from 
wrong doers to right doers, for it is only the right doers 
who can make the world a good place to live in. 

Jesus found as he continued his teaching in the towns 
and villages of Palestine, that the crowds that followed him 
grew larger and larger. In every place he stopped some 
people became his followers. One day, when an unusually 
large number were gathered to hear him, he told them a 
story, or parable, as it is called, to show that among so 
many people there would be some who would hear his 
teaching but not understand it, and evil thoughts would 
come into their minds and crowd out the teaching and they 
would forget it. There would be some who would hear 
the teaching gladly, but when they had to suffer because of 
their right-doing they would become discouraged. There 
would be some who would hear the teaching, but their desire 
to get riches would be so great that they would be too selfish 
to follow it. But there would be some who would hear the 
teaching, understand it and follow it, and they would teach 
other people to live by the Golden Rule and so help the 
world to grow better. It was these last w r hom Jesus ex- 
pected to help him bring about the new kingdom. This 
story is called the Parable of the Sower. Jesus had often 
watched the farmers sowing their seed in the fields around 
Nazareth, when as a boy he roamed over the hills outside 
the town, and many of his hearers were farmers, so they 
could understand his story perfectly. 

"A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed 
some fell by the wayside ; and it was trodden down and the 
fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock, 
and as soon as it was sprung up it withered away, because 
it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns and the 



54 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And other fell on 
good ground and sprang up and bare fruit an hundred fold." 

Jesus was trying to plant the seed of his teaching in the 
hearts of his hearers, but he knew that many of them would 
not receive it. He longed to plant it where it would increase 
a hundred fold, so that the new r kingdom might be speedily 
established, and looking into the faces of his hearers, men 
and women, boys and girls, and even little children, he 
taught them by telling them stories of the everyday things 
around them that all might understand. 

Jesus told a number of other stories which are recorded 
in the Bible, some of which we shall have later. 



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The Temple (Herod's) 



JESUS 1 Travels 55 



Chapter IX. 
JESUS' TRAVELS. 

We have seen that Jesus first went to the great city of 
Jerusalem to attend the Passover Feast when he was twelve 
years old. He may have gone many times after that while 
his father was still living. It was after his father's death 
that he began his work, first with John the Baptist and then 
with his disciples. The next trip to Jerusalem recorded in 
the Bible was when he was thirty years old. This time, 
also, he went to the Passover Feast, and some of his 
disciples went with him. Together they walked down the 
Jordan Valley and up over the hills to the great city. Prob- 
ably they camped two nights on the way, building campfires 
to take off the chill of the night air. Probably, also, they 
met old friends making the same journey, friends whom 
they had not seen since the last Passover, a year before. No 
doubt they watched for each historical spot with as much 
interest as Jesus had looked for them twenty years before, 
when as a boy he had attended the Passover Feast for the 
first time; for they were deeply interested in the former 
greatness of their country and were eagerly hoping for a 
time when she might again have a commanding place among 
nations. 

Finally they reached the great city, their country's 
capital, and there before them, high above everything else, 
loomed the magnificent temple of Herod, which had been 
forty-six years in the building and was even then not quite 
finished. Its front was covered with plates of gold which 
threw back the rays of the morning sun and formed an 
object of splendor which could be seen for miles around. 
It was built of the whitest marble, and a large part of its 



56 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

side walls was also covered with gold. No one could see 
it without being impressed with its grandeur, and we can 
well imagine that Jesus and his fisherman friends felt as 
much pride in it as we do in our own capitol at Wash- 
ington, with its dome showing white against the blue sky. 
Only they must have had different feelings from ours, for 
here they yearly attended a religious feast — a feast cele- 
brating the emancipation of their people from slavery more 
than iooo years before, — and now they felt that their peo- 
ple were again enslaved. Jesus knew that the greatest 
wish in his heart was to be able to set them free again, 
free from every kind of bondage; to make them a strong, 
free, righteous people. It was such thoughts as these that 
were probably in his mind w r hen he caught sight of the 
gold and white temple glistening in the sunlight. 

But Jesus' thoughts suffered a rude interruption when 
he and his disciples entered the outer court of the temple, 
that part meant for strangers who wished to come to learn 
about the God of the Jews, for instead of the calm and 
silence which would befit such an impressive exterior, they 
found the noise and confusion of a market place. The 
rules of the temple were such that the animals used for 
the sacrifice must be inspected by the priests and pro- 
nounced satisfactory. If they were bought down in the 
town and found unworthy, a second trip and purchase had 
to be made ; and so it had come about that merchants were 
allowed to sell within the temple enclosure, so that the 
worshippers might be sure of buying satisfactory animals. 
In time this custom became much abused, as large prices 
were charged and the merchants paid big fees to the priests 
for the privilege of carrying on the trade; while the Jews 
who came to worship were powerless to help themselves. 
More and more heavily were they taxed each year in this 
unlawful manner. In these days we should call it graft. 

It was also necessary that the worshippers who came 
from foreign countries — as many of them did — should 
have their money changed for the particular kind of coin 



Jesus' Travels ~,j 

that was accepted in the temple. Every man was required 

to pay annually a half-shekel for the maintenance of the 
public temple service. If he were a foreigner he must have 
his money changed for Jewish money before he could make 
the payment. The wrangling of the money changers added 
much to the confusion in the temple court, and the poor 
and ignorant Jew was often sadly imposed upon in this 
exchange of coin. 

Jesus knew of this condition of affairs before he 
reached the temple. It had frequently been the topic of 
conversation among his companions on the way, and he 
found a great discontent among the people just outside the 
temple gate — the Jews who must have dealings with the 
merchants and money changers inside. Jesus had lived 
in a country community far removed from the great church 
centre, and among his associates little attention was paid 
to animal sacrifices. As he looked upon the scene around 
him, the animals herded together, the men wrangling about 
the exchange of money, a feeling of great pity came over 
him that men should think that by such means they were 
serving God. His study of the Old Testament prophets 
had led him to believe that such observances were entirely 
unnecessary, that God did not ask for that kind of sacri- 
fice, and it troubled him greatly that in this beautiful place 
which they were pleased to call God's house, and where 
his children should come to learn his lessons of goodness 
and truth and love, only injustice and empty forms were 
to be found. He had longed to see it a house of prayer 
for all nations, and yet the only place where other people 
besides the Jews could assemble was made loathsome by 
the preparation of animals for the sacrifice. 

Jesus knew that outside the Roman soldiers were on 
guard and that they would probably uphold the tradesmen 
in any disturbance. Nevertheless, he took the part of the 
downtrodden and oppressed, as he always did. Quickly he 
climbed to the topmost step of the portico leading to the 
inner court of the temple. Catching up from the floor a 



58 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

bunch of the rushes with which it was carpeted, to make 
his gestures more effective, and calling in a loud voice to 
secure attention, he bade the merchants and the money- 
changers to depart. "Make not my Father's house a house 
of merchandise!'' He commanded. "Is it not written, 'My 
house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer'? 
But you have made it a den of thieves." For a moment 
only the throng of tradesmen hesitated. They knew they 
were dishonest and extortionate. One look into Jesus' face, 
flaming with indignation, was enough. They needed no 
second warning. Oxen and sheep were driven out as 
quickly as possible. Money tables were upset in the haste 
of their owners to depart. Everyone knew that this man, 
who had dared to speak out against injustice, had the right 
to be obeyed. The occasion was only waiting for the man 
who dared to stand alone — and Jesus was that man. 

Jesus probably spent several months in Jerusalem and 
the surrounding country of Judea at this time, teaching 
people about the new kingdom and healing them of dis- 
eases. It was during this visit to Jerusalem that he made 
the acquaintance of Nicodemus, one of the lawyers of the 
Sanhedrin, or supreme court of the Jews. This lawyer 
was greatly interested in Jesus' work among the people, 
but he seems to have been afraid to let his interest be 
known because of the high position he held. Such 
cowardice we often see among people who hold responsible 
positions in our own day. Nicodemus wanted to know 
more about this man who evidently had a great power for 
doing good, and so he went to see Jesus secretly, at night, 
when no one would know of his visit, and asked him to tell 
him more about this new kingdom he w r as trying to estab- 
lish. Jesus told him one's heart must be right before he 
could live in God's kingdom, and expressed his surprise 
that Nicodemus should hold such a high position as teacher 
and lawyer among the Jews, and yet not feel God speaking 
in his own heart and telling him how to teach rightly. 
This talk seems to have been the beginning of a friendship 



Jesus' Travels 59 

that lasted until Jesus' death. At the time of his trial 
before the great Sanhedrin, Nicodemus made an effort to 
secure justice for him, and after his death it was the great 
lawyer, who. with Joseph of Alimithea, cared for Jesus' 
body and buried it. 

At the end of this stay in Jerusalem and Judea, Jesus 
and his disciples returned to Galilee, going through 
maria. In Jesus' time the western side of the Jordan 
River was divided into three provinces. Between Judea 
in the south and Galilee in the north was Samaria, a region 
inhabited by people who were not Jews, but who were 
closely related to them and had many of the same forms 
in their religious worship. They had for their sacred book 
the first five books of the Old Testament, so that the laws 
of Moses were sacred to them as to the Jews. 

Samaria is possibly the most fertile part of Palestine. 
It is a land of well wooded hills, fertile valleys and uplands. 
The rich soil yields abundant harvests of wheat, oats and 
corn, while orchards of fig and olive trees abound and 
grapes grow in profusion. A Jewish writer of about the 
time of Jesus says that the grass that grew in Samaria was 
so fine that the cows of that region gave more milk than 
cows elsewhere; and we learn from the same writer that 
the country was quite as fertile then as now, and that there 
was plenty of good water. Indeed, one of the famous 
places in Samaria is Jacob's Well, a well no one knows 
how old, but which is believed to have been made by the 
patriarch Jacob when, after his long exile in Haran, he 
settled in the region with his large family and his wealth 
of flocks and herds. It is quite possible that the belief 
is correct, for no doubt when Jacob pitched his tents in 
fertile Samaria, he found the plentiful streams in the pos- 
session of those who had been long in the land, and to 
avoid trouble he may have dug a well of his own. 

When one visits the spot now he finds a small en- 
closure built over the well, and it is the duty of a priest 
who keeps the key to show the place to visitors. The 



60 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

mouth of the well is small, but it opens out about four feet 
below, into a much larger part, y l / 2 feet in diameter. Both 
the mouth and this larger part are lined with rough 
masonry. It is now about 75 feet deep, but originally it 
was much deeper, for a great deal of rubbish has fallen 
into it, and travellers who wished to guess at its depth have 
thrown many stones down it. For a part of the year the 
w r ell is dry, the water lasting from the rainy season until 
the month of May. Probably when it was kept cleaned 
out the water lasted much longer. 

This well was made famous by an incident in the life 
of Jesus, and because of that it is now considered one of 
the sacred spots in Palestine and is very carefully guarded. 

In Jesus' time the Jews and Samaritans were enemies. 
Five hundred years before, when the Jews returned from 
their exile in Babylon and sought to rebuild the temple at 
Jerusalem which had been demolished by their Babylonian 
captors, the people of Samaria offered to lend them aid. 
This the Jews refused to accept, because the Samaritans 
were not pure Israelites, and furthermore, they refused 
to allow the Samaritans to worship with them at all. The 
Samaritans were thus driven to provide their own place 
of worship, so they built a temple upon Mt. Gerizim, where 
they carried on an elaborate service much like that of the 
Jews in Jerusalem. From this time on there was much 
hostility between the two peoples, the Samaritans in every 
way possible harassing the Jews. Not being allowed to 
assist in rebuilding the temple, they tried to interfere with 
other building operations in Jerusalem. Sometimes they 
seized Jewish lands and carried their owners off as slaves. 
Once in the early morning while it was still dark, but just 
after the temple doors had been opened, they placed the 
bodies of dead men in the temple to defile it; and finally 
they killed some Jews from Galilee who were on their way 
to Jerusalem. Jews who had to make the journey from 
Galilee to Judea, unless they went in large parties, as they 
did at the Passover times, generally avoided the shorter 



Jesus' Travels 6i 

road through Samaria, because it was beset with danger 
from the hostile inhabitants. Crossing the Jordan they 
went through the friendly region of Perea, the province 
to the east of Samaria, where a number of Israelites were 
settled. 

Jesus, as we have seen, was going through Samaria 
on his way home to Galilee after his stay in Judea, he and 
his disciples having decided to take the shorter way. After 
a long morning's walk the company rested at noon at 
Jacob's Well, which is possibly about five miles from the 
northern boundary of Judea. When they had rested a 
little the disciples went into the town nearby to procure 
food, leaving Jesus by the w r ell. Directly there appeared a 
woman with her water bottle, and Jesus asked her for a 
drink. The woman was much surprised at this, for she 
saw that Jesus was a Jew, and it was a very unusual thing 
for a Jew to ask anything of a Samaritan. Her surprise 
was so great that she ventured to ask him how it was that 
he, a Jew, was willing to ask a Samaritan woman for even 
so small a thing as a drink of water. Jesus was a man of 
keen perceptions. He could see after a very few minutes' 
conversation with the woman that she was a poor, mis- 
guided creature who was in need of help. The great love 
he had in his heart for everybody prevented him from feel- 
ing the dislike for the Samaritans which his people usually 
felt. Here was a woman in need of his teaching. It 
mattered not that her ancestors and his had been foes, that 
her people and his had nothing but hate for each other. 
His heart went out to her because she was a poor, sinful 
woman, and so to her immense surprise, and to the evident 
displeasure of his returning disciples, he took the pains to 
tell her about the God in her own heart and how she might 
receive help from Him there. Neither in Jerusalem nor 
in Gerizim, he told her, would true worshippers worship 
the Father, for He is a spirit, and they that worship him 
truly will find Him within themselves : and it is of such 
worshippers that the Father is in need. Perhaps it was 



62 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

the assurance that even she, sinful though she had been, 
might have this communion with God in her own heart 
and be of some help to the world because of her new 
understanding of this new kind of worship, that gave her 
a new faith and filled her with a desire for better things. 
At any rate, after the conversation with Jesus, she had a 
different feeling about life, and forgetting her water bottle, 
she hastened to the town to tell the people of the man 
whose heart was so large that he had sympathy even for 
such as she. Later, the people had a chance to learn for 
themselves of Jesus' great sympathy, for he stayed in the 
neighborhood two days, teaching them about the God who 
is a spirit and whose dwelling place is the hearts of men. 
Perhaps the thing that touched them as much as anything 
else in his teaching was the fact that he, a Jew, instead 
of hating them as they believed all Jews did, evidently 
cared for them and was filled with a desire to do them 
good. In him they saw the Jewish hate changed to a love 
that was broad enough to take in all mankind, and the 
revelation filled them with an enthusiasm which made them 
eager listeners to his words. 

The Jews, in their treatment of the Samaritans and 
also of other neighboring peoples, showed a strong race 
prejudice. We find such a prejudice among different peo- 
ples of every age. We are apt to feel some distrust of 
people not like ourselves, because we do not fully under- 
stand them. Because they are different from us in 
behavior or customs, we naturally conclude that they are 
not so good. Perhaps they have given us cause to dislike 
them, as the Samaritans had the Jew r s. Whatever the 
reason, there seems to be a tendency in human beings to 
distrust people of other races. In our time we find it 
expressed in our Chinese Exclusion laws, in our objection 
to the colored people, and, curiously enough, to the very 
people to whom Jesus belonged, to the Jews themselves. 
But there are people w r ho try to understand the Chinaman 
and give him fair treatment, although he belongs to another 



Jesus' Travels 63 

race and has a very different education from ours; and 
there are people who try to understand the Negro and to 
educate him so that he may become an acceptable citizen 
in the country where his ancestors were very unwillingly 
made slaves two or three hundred years ago ; and there are 
people who recognize in the Jew a man who deserves the 
consideration we ourselves desire. These people, and 
fortunately their number is increasing, are the people who 
really comprehend the meaning of Jesus' work in Samaria. 

Jesus certainly wanted very much to establish friendly 
relations between his own people and the Samaritans. The 
hatred and distrust with which the two peoples regarded 
each other were a great sorrow to him, for he had no- 
room in his heart for hatred. Not only was he friendly 
and helpful to the Samaritans, but he tried to teach his 
people that the hated Samaritan might even be a better man 
than the Jew. One day a man who was very learned in 
the Jewish laws had been listening to Jesus' teaching, and 
he asked him how he might prepare himself to live in the 
new kingdom. Jesus replied by asking him which was the 
most important of all the e.ws. "Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart and soul and with all thy 
strength and with all thy mind," replied the lawyer, "and 
thy neighbor as thyself. " Jesus assured him that he had 
answered rightly, and that if he obeyed those two laws 
he would live in the new kingdom. "And who is my neigh- 
bor," continued the learned man, hoping to show Jesus 
that he really had obeyed the laws, for neighbors, to him, 
meant only the Jews. Jesus answered his question by 
telling him the parable of the "Good Samaritan. " 

"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho 
and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment 
and wounded him and departed leaving him half dead. 
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; 
and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. And 
likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and 
looked on him and passed by on the other side. But a 



64 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; 
and when he saw him he had compassion on him and went 
to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, 
and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn 
and took care of him. And on the morrow, when he de- 
parted, he took out two pence and gave them to the host 
and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou 
spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee. Which 
now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him 
that fell among thieves ?" The lawyer replied, "He that 
showed mercy on him. ,, Then said Jesus, "Go thou and 
do likewise. " 

After the short stay in Samaria, Jesus and his disciples 
continued their journey northward. 

The public work of Jesus may have lasted as much as 
three years, though according to the oldest accounts it was 
only about a year. According to these accounts, Jesus 
made only one trip to Jerusalem during this time, driving 
the money changers and traders out of the temple soon 
after his arrival, and paying for the act a few days later 
with his life. 

It is a later account that states that Jesus' public min- 
istry lasted three years. This writer records at least three 
visits to Jerusalem, placing this temple experience at the 
time of the first visit. All of these accounts were written 
so long after Jesus' death, and differ in so many points, 
that it is impossible for us to find out the exact truth about 
Jesus' travels. I have mentioned all of the journeys re- 
corded in the Bible, because each has some interest for us. 
According to the earlier writers, most of Jesus' work was 
in Galilee, but according to this latter account he spent most 
of his time in Judea. Twice during his labors in Galilee 
he stopped his work and went out of his own country alto- 
gether, into Phoenicia and Syria, for rest and quiet. The 
first time he visited the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, 
on the Mediterranean coast. He must have been greatly 
interested in these old cities, for more than once they had 



Jesus 1 Travels 65 

played an important part in the history of his nation. The 
immense cedar logs for the Temple of Solomon were 
shipped at Tyre and landed again further down the coast, 
at Joppa. Hiram, King of Tyre, had been a friend of 
Jesus' royal ancestors, David and Solomon, and a later king 
of Israel had married a Tyrian wife. 

From these cities by the sea Jesus and his disciples 
went inland, probably following the road to Damascus until 
after it crossed the Lebanon mountains, then turning south 
and finally reaching the Sea of Galilee again. We may be 
sure that Jesus found every step of the way interesting. 
From his boyhood days he must have longed to see the 
Cedars of Lebanon, and a nearer view of snow-capped 
Hermon must have been a great delight to him who had 
always loved beautiful things. But his interest in the new 
country did not in any way interfere with his work with 
his disciples. One of his reasons for getting away from 
the multitudes who thronged about him in Galilee, was to 
have a chance to talk more freely with his disciples and 
give them further instructions about the teaching they were 
to help him do. The Bible tells us of only one instance of 
his healing anyone on this journey, and that was the little 
daughter of a Greek woman who found out that he was 
in her neighborhood. He tried to keep his whereabouts as 
quiet as possible, for he needed rest and he wanted time 
to teach his disciples. Soon he returned to the region 
around Galilee, and for a little time we find him as busy 
as ever; but soon again he makes another journey to the 
northward. This time he and his disciples follow the Jor- 
dan River upward to its sources in the Lebanon mountains. 
For twenty-five miles the party climbed up an ascent of 
1700 feet, to the region of the city of Caesarae Phillippi, a 
City which lay at the foot of Mount Hermon. Here they 
were 1050 feet above the level of the sea, but white-capped 
Hermon was still 8000 feet higher. Jesus must have found 
this retreat to the mountains a most refreshing change, but 
his heart must also have been very sorrowful, for he 



66 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

learned at this time that although he had been successful 
in teaching his disciples about the new kingdom, they were 
still eager for him to be their king and lead the Jewish 
people to a commanding place among nations. To his dis- 
ciples who were in truth his loyal subjects, he possessed 
all the qualities necessary for the king their people had 
sc long looked for. They found it hard to understand why 
he did not assume this kingship and wear a crown. Jesus 
had conquered that temptation in the wilderness, more than 
a year before. He knew that no such move as that would 
bring about the heavenly kingdom. Again he said, "Get 
thee behind me, Satan," though no doubt it cost him a 
struggle to say it this time, as it had before. 

Not long after his return to Galilee from the Northern 
mountains, Jesus and his disciples went again to Jerusalem 
to attend the Autumn feast of the Tabernacles. This was 
the last of the harvest celebrations and came at the end 
of the grape harvest. At this time the Jews celebrated the 
wandering of the Children of Israel in the wilderness. The 
people were required to live in temporary houses, made of 
the branches of trees and thatched with leaves. The cele- 
bration lasted a week and each day had its appropriate 
exercises. During the week of the Feast of the Tabernacles 
Jesus taught in the temple, where many people came to 
hear him. Some declared that "of a truth" he was a prophet, 
and others that he was really the Christ; but still others 
found it hard to believe that so great a person as the Mes- 
siah they were looking for could come from the unim- 
portant province of Galilee, so far from the great city of 
Jerusalem. So while there were many who found comfort 
in his words, there were many who wanted to have him 
arrested and tried before the chief priests. But the author- 
ities were not quite willing to take this step, perhaps fearing 
an uprising of the people he had helped, and who trusted 
and believed in him. His friend the lawyer Nicodemus 
especially opposed his being interfered with, maintaining 
that it was unlawful to judge a man when they knew so 




3 

X 
U 



Jesus' Travels 67 

little about him and his work; and so for the time Jesus 
was left free. 

After the Feast of the Tabernacles Jesus returned 
again to Galilee, but not for very long. The Bible indicates 
that he spent some time in Samaria and Judea during the 
Winter, and in the Spring directed his steps again toward 
Jerusalem for the Passover, stopping for a while in Perea 
and working among the people there. His disciples were 
becoming more and more anxious about him, because the 
authorities were watching him more closely all the time, 
with the evident desire to prove that he was teaching a 
dangerous doctrine. It may have been during the Winter 
months, before the Passover, that Jesus made the acquaint- 
ance of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, two sisters and a 
brother who lived in Bethany, near Jerusalem. With these 
friends he seems to have found a home during his visits 
to the great city. 

It was probably during his stay in Perea that Jesus met 
the rich young ruler who desired to know what good thing 
he could do to prepare himself for life in the new kingdom. 
Jesus asked him if he knew all of the commandments. He 
replied that he did, and that he had kept them ever since 
he was a boy, but he didn't feel satisfied. He had listened 
to Jesus' teaching and was interested in the new kingdom 
he wished to establish. Perhaps there was some good thing 
he could do which would make him enjoy this new kind of 
life. Jesus looked into his handsome, eager face and at 
his costly and beautiful clothing, and his heart went out to 
him as it did to everyone who seriously wanted to do good 
in the world. He was young himself, and although he had 
never been rich, he could well understand the feelings of 
one who had riches. It was Jesus' ability to understand 
all kinds of people that made it possible for him to give help 
wherever it was needed. So it was that he understood 
just how this young man with his abundant means and his 
high position longed to do some good thing which would 
insure him the happiness Jesus talked about. Position and 



68 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

wealth are powerful forces in a man's life, — why should 
they not bring the greatest happiness? We can readily 
imagine that Jesus laid his hand lovingly upon the young 
man's shoulder, while sympathy shone in both his face and 
voice as he said: "Thou lackest one thing yet! Sell all 
that thou hast and distribute unto the poor." It was cer- 
tainly with a loving desire that he might do the one good 
thing that could bring him the happiness of the new king- 
dom, that he added the entreaty: "Then come and 
follow me!" 

But this was more than the young man could do. To 
give up his wealth and his position for a life of service 
among the poor and suffering of the earth, seemed to him 
too great a sacrifice. Sorrowfully he shook his head and 
turned away, and sorrowfully it was no doubt that Jesus 
watched him go, for he knew that it was the care of his 
great wealth that was crowding out the care for his fellow- 
men ; and that great though his riches were, and important 
his position in his country, it was not by means of these 
that he could gain the happiness for which he longed. 
Many a man of wealth and position since Jesus' day has 
hoped to find the happiness of the kingdom of heaven by 
doing some great good thing, but it is as difficult now as 
when the young ruler of Perea tried it, to buy happiness 
in such a way; and the words Jesus spoke to his Disciples 
at that time are as true now as then. "Verily, verily, I 
say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. It is easier for a camel to go through 
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the 
Kingdom of God." To accumulate great riches, and yet 
follow Jesus' rule of treating others as one should like to 
be treated, is a difficult thing to do; but he who would gain 
the happiness of the Kingdom of God can obey no other 
law. 

As Jesus proceeded to Jerusalem, people gathered to 
see him and to hear his teaching at every town along the 
way. The Superintendent of the Customs Department in 



Jesus' Travels 69 

Jericho was a man who, even though he was despised and 
looked down upon, tried to be just to everybody. Every 
year he gave one-half of his income to the poor, and if he 
made a mistake and charged anyone too much duty on his 
goods, he always returned to him four times as much as 
he had taken. This man's name was Zaccheus. He had 
heard enough about Jesus to lead him to think that he was 
teaching the same kind of justice that he himself believed 
in and practised. Zaccheus was eager to see Jesus and 
hear for himself the things he said; but he was a short 
man, and he feared that in the crowd which had gathered 
to see the young prophet from Galilee, he would not be 
able to see him at all. He therefore climbed into a syca- 
more tree which grew by the wayside, in order to be sure of 
seeing him. Jesus noticed him as he came along and in- 
quired who he was. When he learned that he was a 
customs officer he called to him to come down, for he 
desired to stay at his house while he was at Jericho. 
Zaccheus was overjoyed at this and hurried down to lead 
Jesus to his home. Here as in Galilee the people were much 
surprised that Jesus should associate with the despised pub- 
lican, for they had not learned his lesson of brotherly 
love. Jesus found in Zaccheus a friend whose life was in 
accord with that necessary for the new kingdom; and it 
rejoiced him greatly to find a man who, even though people 
despised him and looked down upon him, returned justice 
for their injustice, and spent his time and his means in 
helping those in need. Among the many who misunder- 
stood his teaching, it must have been a most comforting 
thing to Jesus to see in Zaccheus a man who not only under- 
stood him, but was living the very kind of life he desired 
all men to live. 

As Jesus neared Jerusalem the crowds grew larger 
and larger. The great city was full of people who had come 
to attend the Passover Feast, and many who heard that 
Jesus was coming went out to meet him, so that it was 
quite a large procession which escorted him into the city. 



yo A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

Still hoping for a Messiah, they began to hail him as king. 
"Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord," 
they cried. "Blessed be the kingdom of our father David! 
Hosanna in the highest!" Some of the people broke off 
palm branches and strewed them along the way, adding 
much to the festiveness of the scene. Palm Sunday, which 
is celebrated the week before Easter by the churches, has 
its origin in this triumphal procession. Just why Jesus 
allowed himself to be hailed as king at this time, we cannot 
tell, for it was certainly opposed to his purpose before this ; 
but here, as at many other points in the Bible narrative, we 
much remember that Jesus had been dead at least thirty 
years before the accounts of his life were written, and they 
were written by men who desired to prove that he was the 
Messiah of the Jews. It is quite possible that Jesus would 
have much preferred to enter Jerusalem quietly, or that he 
was willing to do so publicly only in order to appear as the 
friend of the poorer people whom the chief priests of the 
temple either oppressed or paid little heed to. Some people 
who have made a study of the life of Jesus think that there 
was no such procession, and others, that he may have en- 
tered the city surrounded by a crowd of followers, but 
that if he was hailed as king it was entirely against his 
will. It is quite possible that the latter was the case, for at 
no other time in his life do we find Jesus willing to accept 
the title of king, and his only hope of bringing about the 
kingdom of heaven was certainly by teaching men to live 
by his law of the Golden Rule. 




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Jerusalem yi 



Chapter X. 
JERUSALEM. 

Jesus always entered the city from the East. Climbing 
up to the Mount of Olives and over it, and crossing the deep 
valley of the Kedron, he was soon at the temple gates ; and 
it was the temple which he always made his stopping place. 
At night he probably returned to Bethany to stay with his 
hospitable friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus; but in 
the day time he was at the temple, for there he was sure 
of finding his countrymen willing and eager to listen to his 
teachings. 

The New Testament tells us little about the other parts 
of Jerusalem. The great temple which Herod built was 
the chief center of interest for the Jews of Jesus' time; 
for it was the center of their religious activities and the 
Jews' religion was more to them than anything else. The 
highest officers of the government were also the highest 
officers of the church. The great lawyers of their court, 
the Sanhedrin, were also the chief priests of the temple, 
and the Sanhedrin met within the temple enclosure. 

The temple, however, was not all of the Jewish capital. 
The great city had been growing since David's time when 
he chose this fortified town of the Jebusites to be his royal 
residence and the capital of his kingdom. Long before 
that it must have been a place of importance, for because 
of its natural fortifications it was able to hold its own 
against many invaders. Very early in Israel's history, as 
early as Abraham's journey from his eastern home on the 
Persian Gulf, it may have been called Salem instead of 
Jerusalem, Salem meaning peace. The city was built upon 
high ridges of land sloping to the south-east and on three 



72 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

sides of these ridges were deep, almost impenetrable, 
ravines forming such strong natural fortifications that it 
could well maintain a peaceful condition inside its walls even 
when there was much fighting outside. Only on the north 
and north-west was it liable to attack and there, of course, it 
was protected by high walls. When David first besieged 
the city, the Jebusite inhabitants taunted him with the boast 
that their town was so strong that the lame and the blind 
among their people could hold it against any army. The 
boast was founded upon long years of successful resistance 
to invaders but David proved too strong for them. 

The ridges upon which Jerusalem is built slope in such 
a way that some one has said the city looks as if it were 
sliding down hill into the Kedron valley. The city itself is 
more than 2500 feet above the Mediterranean, while the 
valleys which made its ancient defense were 500 feet deep. 
Jerusalem, was not, however, a well-watered city, and water 
is a most necessary thing to have within reach if a city is 
besieged. The only natural spring, so far as we know, was 
in the west bank of the Kedron valley, so that very early 
in the city's history rain water tanks and aqueducts were 
made. This one natural spring, which is now called the 
Fountain of the Virgin, is remarkable because it flows inter- 
mittently. A very interesting part of the sight-seeing in 
Jerusalem is connected with the ancient rock-hewn pools 
and tunnels for collecting and carrying water. One of the 
early kings of Judea built a tunnel to carry the water from 
the Virgin's Fountain to a reservoir inside the city walls 
so that when the city was besieged the attacking army 
could get no water, that being the only source in the 
neighborhood. 

The city's main dependence for water in the early 
times as it is today w r as upon rain-water cisterns. Nearly 
every house has one now, and the excavations show that 
they were almost as common in ancient times. Wherever 
excavations are made in Jerusalem, these cisterns are 
found ; some large for public use and others small for pri- 



Jerusalem 73 

vate families; some hewn in the solid rock and others made 
of masonry. 

As the city grew, the water supply, even with so many 
cisterns, was not great enough and water had to be brought 
from a distance. This was done by aqueducts. In ancient 
times two great aqueducts were built to bring the water of 
good distant springs to Jerusalem. They were known as 
the Low Level and the High Level Aqueducts. The Low 
Level Aqueduct is still used. There are the remains of 
a still older one curving around among the hills and valleys, 
sometimes going through tunnels and sometimes encircling 
hills in its journey to the great city. The remains of the 
masonry are a most interesting study for people who are 
trying to find out all they can about this most interesting 
country. The channel which this old aqueduct makes is 
25 miles long altho its starting place is only five miles from 
Jerusalem. 

The High Level Aqueduct was raised upon arches to 
bring the water across valleys. An old Jewish poet who 
once wrote a poem about Jerusalem spoke of "a high shin- 
ing stream winding among towers/' by which he probably 
meant the High Level Aqueduct. Both of these aqueducts 
were probably in use in Jesus' time. We see what a con- 
tinuous struggle it must have been to keep this rocky city 
supplied with water, and we can hardly expect that the 
land outside her walls yielded very abundant harvests. 
There is, in fact, very little level land around Jerusalem. 
Most of the region is made up of great hills and valleys, so 
that little of the ground can be cultivated. Grain will grow 
but the space is so small that people cannot grow enough 
of it. The staple product of the region is fruit. Olives, 
grapes and figs have been the dependence of the people 
for centuries. Not only have these supplied the needs of 
the people at home, they have also brought their return in 
money when exported. Chief among them is the olive, for 
the fruit of the olive tree has much more oil when it grows 
on high, rocky slopes, where it is exposed to the wind 



74 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

and the sun, than when grown in the more fertile plains 
below. The tree flourishes on stony heights, where no 
other fruit will grow. Jerusalem therefore furnishes the 
best of olives. The fruit supplies food and oil for light, 
cleansing and medicine, while the wood of the tree produces 
timber for furniture and fuel. The tree, however, is of 
slow r growth. Only after fifteen or twenty years does it 
reach its highest bearing capacity, but it may bear for cen- 
turies, thus proving a wonderfully sure crop to the man 
who is possessed of good trees. 

The sycamore, oak and some other trees grow around 
Jerusalem, but not very plentifully. Solomon had to send 
to Lebanon for his cedars, and stone was used much more 
than wood for building, for stone is plentiful and the an- 
cient quarries right under the City show that it was gotten 
at home. In Jerusalem, as in other ancient cities of the 
East, we find the huge blocks of hewn stone which never 
cease to excite the wonder of people of modern times. 

Since the land around Jerusalem is not very fertile, 
sheep and goats do not flourish there, as in other parts of 
Judea. There have always been flocks kept in the region, 
but not many of them. The oxen and cows seen there 
today are small and even stunted looking. The animal best 
adapted to carrying people and burdens over the rocky 
hills was the ass. Horses and mules were not used in 
Jerusalem until comparatively recent times. 

In early Jerusalem each family no doubt ground its 
own grain, made its own bread, made curds and cheese and 
wove its own clothing. Every man killed the animals 
needed for use in his family. Wine and oil presses may 
have been shared, or each man may have had his own. 
The men prepared the skins of animals, as the Arabs do 
today to make water bottles. Later they learned to make 
them of clay. In the very early days they made their own 
implements of stone and bone. Even in early times, how- 
ever, there were some things which the inhabitants had 
to buy. We have seen that they could not grow grain 



Jerusalem 75 

enough for their own use. They had, therefore, to trade 
with farmers of the fertile plains for wheat to make their 
bread. Very early in the city's history, then, we can 
imagine her streets tilled with people come to sell their 
wares. Men from the shores of the Dead Sea brought 
salt. Wandering people from the plains came with cattle, 
butter and cheese, perhaps, which they exchanged for the 
olives and figs of Jerusalem. Wandering workers in metals 
probably came with cooking utensils and ploughshares; 
while traveling weapon makers had swords and lances. 
Caravans journeying from Egypt to Damascus along the 
road, nearly thirty miles to the west, must sometimes have 
made Jerusalem a stopping place, leaving in payment for 
food many of the Eastern luxuries made in those places. 
Ornaments in silver and gold and fine draperies and car- 
pets, thus made their way into Jerusalem, even in the very 
early days, before she became the capital of a great nation, 
as she did under David and Solomon. These two great 
kings made Jerusalem a trade centre, exacting tribute from 
the neighboring towns and toll from the traders from other 
countries, as a part of their revenue. As a trade centre 
Jerusalem received a commission for the goods which were 
handled and stored within her walls to be passed on to 
other regions. Corn came all the way from Egypt, and 
dried fish from Galilee, the Jordan and the Mediterranean, 
and from the traders who brought them Jerusalem re- 
ceived her revenue. Then, too, each Jew had to pay a half 
shekel a year, to the Temple, and this tax coming once a 
year from people all over the country made the Temple 
income very large. 

As the city grew, foreign workmen came to live within 
her w r alls and ply their trades. David and Solomon 
brought a number of these skilled workmen from abroad, — 
workers in stone, wood and metal, weavers and dyers of 
cloth, blacksmiths, coppersmiths, goldsmiths and silver- 
smiths; for the Jews were not trained in such matters. 
They had to learn from foreigners. 



y6 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

In Jesus' time Jerusalem under Herod the Great and 
Roman rulers had reached her height in security, popula- 
tion and wealth. Palestine owned a hundred miles of the 
Mediterranean coast line. In two days one might make 
the journey from some of the seacoast towns to the Island 
of Cyprus, which was a province of Rome; in four days, 
one could go to the Egyptian Alexandria, the centre of 
learning; in ten days, one could reach Athens, the capital 
of Greece ; and three weeks would bring one to Rome. 
These trips were frequently made by the people of Jeru- 
salem. Roman officials, Italian and German soldiers and 
traders from all the coasts of the Mediterranean were 
familiar figures in her streets. 

It was the Jerusalem that Herod had perfected which 
Jesus knew. Herod was a great engineer and builder of 
forts. After his building operations Jerusalem looked like 
a gigantic fortress surrounded by high walls. At intervals 
upon the walls arose great towers upon bases so solid that 
they looked like single masses of stone. There are really 
three walls about Jerusalem, parts of them being in ruins 
which date from the earliest times and form some of the 
foundations of the later walls, which grew as the city 
grew. These old walls have had a wonderful history. Be- 
sides the earthquakes, which have at times shaken the foun- 
dations of Jerusalem, the city has suffered from nearly 
twenty sieges and attacks from hostile armies, in some of 
which her walls and principal buildings were entirely 
destroyed, white in some they were only partly torn down. 
At nearly twenty other times the city has been made the 
headquarters of armies which did much damage within her 
walls. A number of times there have been great alterations 
made in the walls and buildings, the rocky knolls have been 
dug clown to lower levels in many places and valleys have 
been filled in. Streets and aqueducts have been changed 
and residence sections moved from one part to another. In 
Jesus' time the lower part of the city was the business 
quarter, with its markets and bazaars, while the upper part 



Jerusalem yy 

was the residence quarter with its fine houses and palaces. 

The Roman soldiers were quartered in two citadels, 
one overlooking the temple and the other the rest of the 
city. One of them was in the northwest corner of Jeru- 
salem and was called Herod's Court, or Palace, but it was 
also a fort. Within were two halls with couches for ioo 
guests, for the people had by this time adopted the custom 
of some of the other Oriental countries, of reclining upon 
couches when they were entertained. Besides these larger 
rooms there were many other richly furnished chambers. 
Courts open to the air and surrounded by colonnades fur- 
nished gardens and groves, green and pleasant, with long 
walks among them. These were made possible by the High 
Level Aqueduct. This palace, with the towers in the wall 
near it, overlooked the whole city, as well as the country 
to the south and west of it. 

The other citadel was north of the temple, and con- 
nected with it by a double passageway to the outer court. 
It was east of the Palace of Herod and on the Eastern 
Hill of Jerusalem, while the Palace of Herod was on the 
Western Hill. The name of the temple citadel was An- 
tonia. Its base was a rock, 50 cubits, or about 80 feet 
high and precipitous on all sides, for Herod had covered 
the sides with smooth slabs of stone so that no enemy 
could find a foothold. The fort itself was much higher 
and the interior contained every kind of convenience 
needed for living. There were colannades, baths and broad 
courts for encampments, besides numerous dwellings. The 
whole plan was tower-like, but at the corners it carried 
four other towers. The one at the southeast corner was 
the highest and overlooked the temple, and it was from 
this that the stairs or sloping gangways led down to the 
adjoining temple-cloisters. 

On the west hill, and south of the Palace of Herod, 
was another palace of earlier date, and below that, in the 
hollow between the two hills, was a gymnasium, or open 
place for exercise. Here popular assemblies were often 



78 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

held — a custom learned from the Greeks. The place was 
called the Xystos. A theatre and an amphitheatre were 
also among Herod's works in or near Jerusalem, and ath- 
letes from all lands were invited to the city to try their 
skill as they did at the Olympian games in Greece. In a 
place altogether unsuited for chariots because of the rocky, 
narrow hills, he constructed tracks where chariot races were 
run. Wild beasts were collected to fight with each other 
or with men. These exhibitions troubled the Jews greatly, 
but Gentiles flocked in great numbers to see them. 

Such, then, was the Jerusalem of Jesus' time : a little 
city not more than three-quarters of a mile wade and a 
mile long inside its walls, though with quite extensive 
suburbs outside. Although Herod died while Jesus w r as a 
boy, the country was still under Roman rule; and while 
Jerusalem w r as a Jewish city, the influence of the foreigner 
was everywhere adding to the discontent of the Jew and 
to his longing for a deliverer who would make his country 
really his own again. 



The Passion Week 79 



Chapter XL 
THE PASSION WEEK. 

During the Passover week Jesus was conscious that 
the feeling against him among the Jewish authorities was 
constantly growing. On his way to the temple on the third 
day he was met by a company of the chief priests who 
demanded to know by whose authority he was teaching. 
Seeing that they wanted to entrap him into making a claim 
that he was the Messiah, he cleverly answered their ques- 
tion by asking a similar one about John the Baptist. The 
priests saw that they instead of he were entrapped and 
took counsel together to decide what they should say. If 
they answered that God commanded John to preach they 
knew that Jesus would ask why they had not believed in 
him and followed his teaching, and if they answered that 
John had no command from God, the common people 
whose friend he had been and who believed in him might 
rise up against them. Caught in their own trap, they could 
only answer, "We cannot tell." Then said Jesus, "Neither 
do I tell you by what authority I do these things." Then 
turning his attention to the multitude that stood around 
him, he told them this parable: 

"A certain man planted a vineyard and set a hedge 
about it, and digged a place for the wine vat, and built a 
tower and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far 
country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he 
sent his servants to the husbandmen that he might receive 
the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took the servants 
and beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again 
he sent other servants, more than the first and they did 
unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his 
son, saying 'they will reverence my son.' But when the 



80 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, 
This is the heir; come let us kill him and seize on his 
inheritance'; and they caught him and cast him out of the 
vineyard and slew him. When the lord of the vineyard 
Cometh," said Jesus, "what will he do unto those husband- 
men ?" "He will miserably destroy those wicked men," 
answered someone in the crowd, "and will let out his vine- 
yard to other husbandmen, which shall render him the 
fruits in their seasons." Then turning again to the priests 
Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God shall be taken from 
you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." 
This made the priests very angry and, but for fear of 
the crowd, they would have arrested Jesus upon the spot, 
the chief priests being the judges of the great Sanhedrin, 
the Supreme Court of the Jews. They knew that they 
were the "wicked husbandmen" of his story and they were 
angry that in the presence of the multitude they had been 
called wicked and unjust men. They left only to plan 
another attack. Jesus wished to make the people under- 
stand what unsound leaders they had in these Jewish au- 
thorities, and so he told them to beware of living the kind 
of lives these great men lived. They taught good behavior 
but did not practise it. Many things they did which were 
exactly opposed to Jesus' new rule. They made other peo- 
ple carry heavy burdens, very hard to be borne, but they 
themselves would "not move them with one of their fingers." 
What good things they did were not to help their fellow- 
men, but that they themselves might appear good and great. 
They always wanted the best seats at the feasts and the 
chief places in the synagogues. They liked to be addressed 
as if they were masters and other people were their ser- 
vants. They dressed extravagantly and made a show of 
their piety by wearing most conspicuous "phylacteries," 
which were little leather pouches bound to the forehead 
and arms in which were copies of the Jewish law. Jesus 
ended his discourse with an exclamation of pity and love 
for the great city of Jerusalem. How he had longed to 



The Passion Week 8i 

teach her people to know the happiness of the new king- 
dom ! Those in authority would not listen to his teaching. 
They would not learn it themselves and he knew that they 
would prevent others from learning it. Jesus felt now that 
the end of his ministry was near — and indeed, before the 
day was over, the conspiracy which ended in his death was 
planned. Among his own disciples, sad to relate, was found 
a man mean enough to be the tool of the conspirators. 
Judas Iscariot, probably the only disciple who was not a 
Galilean, had been the treasurer of the little company. 
Whatever business transactions were necessary were in his 
hands. Judas, like some men of our own times, was one 
who could not handle money without becoming its slave. 
Such are the men, who, having arrived at positions of trust 
like that of bank cashier or treasurer of some large company, 
instead of becoming more reliable because of the greater 
responsibility placed upon them, become corrupted by 
handling so much money and betray their trust. Judas was 
offered thirty pieces of silver if he would tell where Jesus 
could be found at a time when it would be easy to take 
him — and he stooped to do it. He had been the trusted 
friend of Jesus but he betrayed the trust. 

We do not know how Jesus spent the fourth day of 
the Passover week. Possibly he passed it quietly in Beth- 
any, willing to rest a little away from the multitudes who 
pressed about him in the city and from the spying 
authorities whose presence he felt around him. 

The Passover supper was eaten on the 6th day of the 
week, and on the 5th day a great deal of preparation was 
necessary. In the morning the disciples went to Jesus to 
ask where the sacrificial meal was to be eaten, and he 
directed him to the room he had procured. The prepara- 
tions for the feast seem to have been in the hands of Peter 
and John. From ten to twenty people shared the same 
lamb, for there had to be enough to consume the whole 
animal. Among the preparations for the feast were the 
buying of the lamb and carrying it to the temple court with 



82 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

the knife for its sacrifice tied to its horn or thrust into its 
wool. About 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the 5th day the 
two disciples probably joined the crowd which poured into 
the temple courts. At the close of the regular temple ser- 
vice the priests blew three trumpet blasts, a psalm was 
chanted, and the worshippers were admitted into the priests' 
court in three sections. After the first section had entered 
the doors were shut and the signal was given for the killing 
of the lambs. Each man killed his own lamb, while a priest 
caught the blood in a gold or silver vessel. From the place 
where the lambs were killed, two long lines of priests 
extended to the great altar for burnt offerings. Up these 
lines of priests the bowl of blood was passed until it 
reached the altar where it was poured out at its base. 

All the time, other priests chanted psalms, the wor- 
shipper repeating the first line of each psalm. The lambs 
were now hung on iron hooks which projected from the 
walls and pillars of the court, or were supported on a 
stick between the shoulders of the men in order to be 
skinned and cut open. The tail, the fat, the kidneys and 
the liver were kept to be burned on the altar, but the 
rest of the animal w r as wrapped in the skin and carried 
away for the feast. There were ovens especially prepared 
for roasting the animal whole. It was skewered from end 
to end with spits of pomegranite wood. No part was 
allowed to touch the sides of the oven and no bone could 
be broken. The skin of the lamb was sometimes given to 
the owner of the room where the feast was eaten, but he 
could demand no other payment. 

The two disciples probably also provided the cakes of 
unleavened bread which were eaten at the feast and the 
bitter herbs and vinegar which always accompanied the 
lamb. At night, at the hour appointed, Jesus and his dis- 
ciples met in the room he had selected. According to the 
Jewish law, the feast had to be eaten standing, but the 
Greek custom of lying on couches to eat had made its way 
into Jerusalem. The tables were low and the people lay 



The Passion Week 83 

on the left side of the couches with their feet extending 
away from the table. A cup of red wine diluted with 
water was blessed by Jesus and passed to his disciples. The 
bitter herbs were symbolic of the hard life of the Children 
of Israel in Egypt. After the supper Jesus and his disciples 
walked out into the starlight, for it was not their intention 
to spend the night in the city. As they walked together 
Jesus felt very sure that he would not be long with these 
friends of his and he told them many things he wanted 
them to remember when he should be gone. "These things 
have I spoken unto you," said Jesus, "that my joy might 
remain in you and that your joy might be full. This is 
my commandment, that you love one another as I have 
loved you." Then Jesus prayed to the Father that he 
would keep his disciples free from the evil of the world 
when he could be with them no more, and that He would 
help them in their efforts to teach about the Kingdom of 
God. 

Still walking on, the party crossed over the ravine just 
east of the city and climbed the hill to the Mount of Olives. 
They were on the road to Bethany, but Jesus was very tired 
with the events of the day and very sorrowful, and he felt 
that he must rest awhile and go apart from his companions 
to pray for strength to stand the trial which he knew was 
before him. 

Calling his trusted friends Peter and John, that they 
might be near him, he sought a solitary place that he might 
pray to God and find fresh courage. The two disciples, 
tired too with the day's exertions, soon fell asleep leaving 
him entirely alone. We can imagine how as he waited 
there, in the darkness, his whole life rose up before him: 
his boyhood among the hills of Galilee, the helpful com- 
panionship of his father and mother, his work as a 
carpenter in Nazareth, and the months of labor with the 
sick and sorrowing and sinful people of his country. It 
must have seemed to him as if he had failed ! How he had 
longed to do more for these people who did not understand 



84 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

him ! How he loved them even though they distrusted 
him! If he could only live longer perhaps their distrust 
would turn to trustfulness and he could help them as he 
longed to do! In anguish of spirit he cried: "O my 
Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me." Only 
for a moment, Ixnvever, did he consider his own feelings. 
Within his heart, giving him fresh courage, was the spirit 
of love, whom we call God and whom he had always called 
his Father in Heaven, as it is in the hearts of all of us 
today, ready to give courage and strength for our trials as 
it gave Jesus strength for his. 

When Jesus had finished his prayer in the Garden of 
Gethsemane, as that particular part of the Mount of Olives 
13 called, he wakened his disciples and prepared to go on 
his way. Just at that moment there appeared a crowd of 
people carrying torches and lamps. These people were the 
chief priests of the temple, the servants from the High 
Priests' palace and some of the Roman captains from the 
fortress of Antonia, who were there to stop any disturbance 
that might occur at the temple during the crowded Passover 
week. Judas Iscariot was with them and the Bible account 
tells us that he kissed Jesus on the cheek to let the officers 
know which was he. At first the disciples made some 
resistance. Peter drew a sword and cut oflf the ear of one 
of the High Priests servants; but Jesus advised him to put 
his sword away, adding, "All that take the sword shall 
perish by the sword," and then as they prepared to bind 
him to take him to Jerusalem he asked that those who were 
with him, his disciple friends, might be allowed to go their 
way. Thus it was that he was led back to Jerusalem to 
the High Priests' house, while his disciples, all excepting 
Peter remained behind. Even Peter, it is said, denied any 
knowledge of Jesus, although he stayed near to see what 
would happen. 

Judas, like other betrayers of trust, had no pleasure 
in his ill-gotten reward. We are told that he returned the 
money to the priests and then met a violent death by his 
own hands. 




Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane Hofman 



The Passion Week 85 

Wc do not know very much about the trial of Jesus. 
He may have had a secret trial at the palace of Caiaphas, 
the High Priest, or the Sanhedrin may have been hastily 
called together to try him. It seems, at any rate, to have 
been entirely out of the usual order and not at all a fair 
trial. The Sanhedrin usually met in rooms near to the 
temple, the members sitting in a semi-circle while the clerks 
stood in front of them to make the records. Students who 
were studying with the learned lawyers of the court were 
also in attendance. According to the rules the sentence 
of guilty could not be given until the day after the trial. 
The Sanhedrin could not meet on the day before the Sab- 
bath, because the death sentence might then be pronounced 
upon that day, nor could it meet in the night. Furthermore, 
it could not convict a man unless two witnesses agreed as 
to his crime. A number of these rules were evidently 
violated if Jesus was tried before the Sanhedrin, but it is 
quite possible that some of the members were hastily called 
together in the early morning, and an attempt at a trial 
made. The Bible tells us that the witnesses could not 
agree, and Jesus let them wrangle without saying anything 
iii his own defense. Anything from him would have been 
useless, for his death had been determined upon already. 
The Jews were not allowed to sentence people to death. 
The sentence had to be finally pronounced by the Roman 
governors; so without saying anything very definite as to 
Jesus' crime, they sent him to Pontius Pilate, who was the 
Roman governor at the time and who was in Jerusalem 
with his body of soldiers because of the Passover week. 
"We have a law and according to that law he shall die," 
said the priests as they delivered him to the governor. 

Pilate was spending this week with his soldiers in the 
palace of Herod, the citadel in the northwestern corner of 
the city, and it was here that Jesus was taken. The Jews 
would not enter the citadel for fear of defilement, so Pilate 
w r ent outside to ask what charge they brought against the 
prisoner. 



86 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

They seem to have been somewhat disappointed that 
Pilate should ask for a charge. They had condemned Jesus 
to death and all that they wanted was permission to execute 
their sentence. "If this man were not an evil doer we 
should not have delivered him up to thee/' they answered. 

"Take him yourselves then, and judge him according 
to your law," haughtily commanded the governor, knowing 
full well that Rome had taken the real power away from 
the Jews. The priests were thus forced to make some 
charge against Jesus, so they said, "We found this man 
perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to 
Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ the King/' Pilate 
was evidently much impressed by Jesus' calm, quiet manner 
in the face of these accusations, for he took him inside of 
the palace to question him alone. "Art thou the King of 
the Jews?" he asked. Jesus answered him by asking him 
a question in return. "Doest thou say this of thyself or 
did others tell thee of it?" "Am I a Jew, that I should 
know?" replied Pilate. "Thine own nation and the chief 
priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou 
done?" 

"My kingdom is not of this world," answered Jesus. 
"I was born and came into the world that I might bear wit- 
ness unto the truth." Pilate then went back to the crowd 
outside and said, "I find no fault in this man." 

At this the people became very fierce, and hoping to 
make some impression upon Pilate they cried aloud, "He 
stirred up the people teaching throughout all the country 
of the Jews from Galilee to Judea." 

At the mention of Galilee Pilate asked if Jesus was a 
Galilean and, when they replied that he was, he insisted 
that he be sent to Herod Antipas for trial, for Herod was 
governor of Galilee and he too was in Jerusalem because 
of the Passover. Herod was glad to see Jesus for he had 
heard much of him and of his wonderful works. He asked 
him a great many questions but all the time the priests and 
the people who were with them fiercely accused him as 



The Passion Week 87 

before, and as before in their presence Jesus had nothing 
to say. 

Again he was led back to Pilate in the hope that this 
time the death sentence would be pronounced, but Pilate 
still hoping to save Jesus' life, said "You have brought 
this man unto me as one that perverteth the people and 
behold I having examined him before you have found no 
fault in him touching the things of which you accuse him. 
No, nor yet Herod, for I sent you to him, and he finds 
nothing worthy of death. I will therefore chastise him 
and release him." It was the custom at the time of the 
Passover feast to set free some notable prisoner and Pilate 
hoped to satisfy the Jews by only chastising Jesus and then 
setting him free, for he hoped to escape the shedding of 
what seemed to him innocent blood. The crowd however 
was not to be satisfied. "Away with this man," they 
shouted, "and release Barabbas to us." Barabbas was a 
man who was in prison because he had stirred up discontent 
against the government sometime before. Again Pilate 
offered to release Jesus but they cried out, "Crucify him, 
Crucify him." A third time Pilate said "But what hath 
he done. I have found no cause for death in him. I will 
chastise him and let him go." But the crowd demanded 
more loudly than ever that he be crucified; and so Pilate 
gave the sentence that he be nailed to a cross and thus 
put to death, while the other prisoner Barabbas was allowed 
to go free. Jesus was probably executed on a hill north 
of the city near the road which leads to Damascus. The 
place was called Golgotha, which means "shaped like a 
skull" and it was at this place that executions usually took 
place. We do not know the exact spot, for the Bible only 
tells us that it was outside of the city walls. 

The account says that two thieves w T ere crucified with 
Jesus and a crown of thorns was placed on his head to 
humiliate him the more. This sounds more cruel than it 
really was for the thorn was a weed with small briers on 
it which made it easy to form it into a wreath. It was 



88 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

often used in mock coronations for it was a widespread 
custom in the early days to crown a criminal as mock-king 
sometime before his crucificion which usually took place 
at the end of the year. 

Altho the people mocked Jesus while he suffered on 
the cross, saying, "He saved others, let him save himself," 
"If thou be king of the Jews, come down from the cross" — 
and over the cross they wrote in derision, "This is Jesus, 
the King of the Jews"; his thoughts w r ere more of them 
than of himself. Even in his suffering he w r as filled w T ith a 
great love for these people who had failed to understand 
him. "Father forgive them," he prayed, "For they know 
not what they do." 

Thus ended the life of the noblest of heroes. 

Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, but 
also a believer in Jesus, asked Pilate to allow him to care 
for Jesus' body and with the help of Nicodemas, who as we 
have seen was also a friend of Jesus and a lawyer of the 
great court, he placed the body in a new tomb belonging to 
himself. For Joseph w r as a wealthy man and owned pro- 
perty in Jerusalem. 

Jesus lived at a time when the Jews were expecting a 
Messiah, a deliverer who would bring about a great change 
for the better in their condition of life. John the Baptist 
had announced that the time for that change had come. 
"The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," he declared, and 
he set about to prepare the common people for it by teach- 
ing them a better way of living. Jesus took up his work. 
He labored early and late to instruct the people about a 
new kingdom which he hoped would be established before 
his death, but which he came to see as he worked among 
the sinful and ignorant people of his country must be a 
thing of growth; a kingdom governed by a new law which 
he had learned from the Hebrew prophets and the fathers 
of the Jewish church and which he tried with his whole 
strength to impress upon the minds of his people. "What- 
soever you would that men should do to you, do you even 
so to them." 



The Passion Week 89 

He had not thought of himself as the Messiah at first, 
but the people whom he helped believed that he was, and it 
was a great disappointment to his diseiples that he would not 
declare himself king and bring about the new kingdom as 
other kings had made empires; but it w r as not that kind of 
kingdom that Jesus wished to establish. Toward the end of 
his life when he saw the crowds that followed him, he may 
have thought that he was the Messiah, and he may even 
have thought when he saw how large his following was 
that some great miracle would be performed by which the 
new kingdom would come all at once. The people of his 
time believed in such things. It was certainly a bitter dis- 
appointment to him that he could not continue his work. 

Great men do not die as ordinary people do. Ordinary 
people are soon forgotten, but if a man is really great people 
keep on trying to find out about him and to understand his 
greatness. So it is to-day that people are trying more than 
ever to find out about Jesus and to understand about the 
kingdom of heaven and its new law. People are more eager 
now to learn Jesus' teaching than they ever have been be- 
fore. Jesus was the founder of the Christian religion but 
he was a Jew himself. His followers are called Christians, 
but many, many people who have called themselves Christ- 
ians have not been his followers at all. They have done 
many cruel things in his name that would have troubled him 
greatly, for cruelty of all kinds troubled him. Only people 
who were kind and merciful could live in the kingdom of 
heaven he said. 

We do not believe now that the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand, but surely there are more people at work trying to 
bring it about than ever before. We find them working 
among the poor and sinful of our great cities, people who 
are insisting upon better homes, better food, better fac- 
tories, better schools, better hospitals, more playgrounds, 
shorter hours for labor, better pay for that labor and more 
chance for rest and good health. Jesus taught the people 
how to make the world a good place to live in. It is for us 
who live now to follow his teaching. 



90 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 



Chapter XII. 
WONDER STORIES. 

We have followed Jesus from his boyhood in Galilee 
through the few years of his manhood and his work among 
the people of his country, but we have not had nearly all the 
stories the Bible tells about him. There are a number of 
stories, some of which were written a longer time after his 
death than those we have had, which I have called wonder 
stories. 

We have in the Bible four accounts of Jesus's life, 
which we call the four gospels : Matthew, Mark, Luke and 
John. The word gospel means glad tidings, good news or a 
joyful message, and these accounts of Jesus' life are called 
gospels because they tell what was believed to be the very 
best of news, that Jesus had come and lived his life of 
helpfulness and brotherhood and left his teaching that all 
men might learn to live lives of helpfulness and brother- 
liness. 

We know very little about any of the men who wrote 
these gospels, but we know that they were all written some 
time after Jesus died, and there are statements in them all 
that do not agree with some in the others. This makes it 
very difficult to find out which statements are true. Mark's 
gospel is thought to be the oldest account and it contains 
fewer of the wonder stories than the others. He tells us 
nothing about Jesus' birth, and the birth stories are the 
most beautiful of the wonder stories of the Bible. We can 
be quite sure, however, that it was only after Jesus had 
died and people realized what a great man he was that they 
thought he must have had a wonderful birth and so told 
these stories about him. 







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Wonder Stories 91 

Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus was born in Beth- 
lehem, but people who have studied a great deal about him 
think he was probably born in Galilee, where he lived the 
rest of his life. The people of Jesus' time were looking for 
a Messiah, and the Old Testament had taught them to expect 
a man who should be as great as their great king David and 
who should be his descendant and come from his native 
city. Therefore, when those who believed that Jesus was 
the Messiah of the Jews wrote about him, afterward, they 
thought he must have been born in Bethlehem, because the 
Old Testament said he would be, and so these stories of his 
birth miles away from his parents' home were told. 

Caesar Augustus, Emperor of Rome, had ordered a 
census taken of all the Jews, according to one account, and 
every man had to go to the city of his ancestors to be 
counted. Joseph, therefore, a descendant of David, went 
from his home in Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled, 
taking Mary, his wife, with him. There they found the 
little town filled with people come for the same purpose 
and they could find no place to stay. Finally, however, they 
were allowed to go into a stable adjoining an inn, and there 
in the night the little Jesus was born; and his mother 
wrapped him in warm clothing and laid him in a manger 
out of which the animals were used to feeding, because she 
had no other bed for him. Now comes the first wonder 
story. 

"And there were shepherds in the same country abiding 
in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 
And an angel of the Lord stood by them and the glory of 
the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore 
afraid. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for 
behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be 
to all people: for there is born to you this day in the City 
of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. And this is 
the sign unto you; that you shall find a babe wrapped in 
swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly 
there was with the angel a multitude of angels, all praising 



92 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

God and saying: Glory to God in the highest and on earth 
peace, good will toward men. 

"And it came to pass when the angels went away from 
them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let 
us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing that is 
come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 
And they came with haste and they found both Mary and 
Joseph, and the babe was lying in a manger. And when 
they saw it they made known concerning the saying which 
was spoken to them about this child. And all that heard 
it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them 
by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, ponder- 
ing them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorify- 
ing and praising God for all the things that they had heard 
and seen even as it was spoken unto them. 

"And when eight days were fulfilled, his name was 
called Jesus.'' 

Jesus' teaching of peace among all people and kindli- 
ness toward everybody, had so impressed those w r ho knew 
him, that they believed that angels must have heralded his 
birth with a song of good tidings to all men. 

The exact date of Jesus' birth has never been known. 
For a long time it was celebrated at different times by 
different churches. Some celebrated it in April or May 
and others in January; but later it became the custom of 
all churches to celebrate it in midwinter. All of the heathen 
nations had regarded this as the most important time of the 
year, when lengthening days give promise that nature will 
soon begin her life and activity anew. It is not surprising 
that the early Christians should think it an appropriate time 
to celebrate the greatest event of their religious life — the 
birth of the founder of their new religion. It was certainly 
as great an event as the heathen anniversaries which were 
celebrated at the same season. The Celts and Germans had 
had great festivals at this time. It was the time of the Yule 
feast for the Germans, which commemorated the return of 
the fiery sun wheel. In far eastern Persia the mid-winter 



Wonder Stories 93 

was also a time of celebration in honor of their sun god. 
In ancient Rome the mid-winter feast was held in honor of 
the god, Saturn, who presided over the sowing of the seed. 
It was this great festival time which became our Christmas, 
which means Christ's mass or feast. 

Many of our most beautiful pictures, poems and songs 
are based on these birth stories and the celebration of this 
mid-winter festival. It is with the loving nature of Jesus in 
mind that we sing in our schools at Christmas time : 

"While stars of Christmas shine, lighting the skies, 
Let only loving looks beam from our eyes. 
While bells of Christmas ring, joyous and clear, 
Speak only happy words, all love and cheer. 
Give only loving gifts and in love take. 
Gladden the poor and sad for love's sweet sake. 
For at this blessed time, long, long ago, 
Christ Jesus came to live, God's love to show." 

In those early days it was believed that men's lives 
were affected by the position of the stars, and there were 
men who studied the skies at night, not as we do now, but 
to try to foretell earthly happenings. These men, who were 
called astrologers, were considered very learned men. 
Persia, Babylonia and India were especially noted for such 
wise men. If the planets moved into an unusual position 
the astrologers believed that it meant some remarkable 
thing was coming about. It so happened that about the 
time of Jesus' birth there were some remarkable movements 
going on in the sky. Once the planets Jupiter and Saturn 
came close together, and another time Mars and Jupiter and 
Saturn were near each other, which must have been a sight 
to make the learned gentlemen wonder what was going to 
happen. After Jesus had died and men knew that he was 
great, they remembered all of this glory in the sky, and 
felt quite sure that it foretold his birth, and so we have 
another wonder story. 



94 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

"Now when Jesus was born," the story says, "behold 
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where 
is he that is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star 
in the East and are come to worship him. And when Herod 
the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with 
him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes 
of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should 
be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea; 
for thus it is written by the prophet: and thou Bethlehem 
land of Judah, art in no wise least among the princes of 
Jtldah: for out of thee shall come forth a governor which 
shall be shepherd of my people Israel. Then Herod privily 
called the wise men and learned of them carefully what 
time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem 
and said, Go and search out carefully concerning the young 
child ; and when you have found him bring me word, that I 
also may come and worship him. And they, having heard 
the king, went their way; and lo, the star which they saw 
in the east went before them till it came and stood over 
where the young child was. And when they saw the star, 
they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And they came 
into the house and saw the young child with Mary his 
mother, and they fell down and worshipped him; and 
opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold, 
and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God 
in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they 
departed into their own country. 

"Now when they were departed, behold an angel of the 
Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and 
take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt 
and be thou there until I tell thee ; for Herod will seek the 
young child to destroy him. And he arose and took the 
young child and his mother by night, and departed into 
Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod. Then 
Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, 
was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the male 
children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders 



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Wonder Stories 



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thereof, from two years old and under, according to the 
time which he had carefully learned of the Wise Men. Then 
is fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the 
prophet, saying: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping 
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and 
she would not be comforted, because they were not." 

Here again we see the effort made by the New Testa- 
ment writers to make Jesus' life follow the writings of the 
Old Testament. 

The story continues: "But when Herod was dead 
behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph 
in Egypt, saying, Arise and take the young child and his 
mother and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead 
that sought the young child's life. And he arose and took 
the young child and his mother and came into the land of 
Israel. But when he heard that Archilaus was reigning 
over Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid 
to go thither; and being warned in a dream he withdrew 
into the parts of Galilee and came and dwelt in a city called 
Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
the prophets that he should be called a Nazarene." 

In Greece, Egypt and other countries of the East, a 
man who was really great was believed to be descended 
from the gods. A number of the Grecian, Roman and 
Egyptian heroes had earthly mothers, but their fathers were 
supposed to be gods, and they in time became gods them- 
selves. Buddha, the founder of a religion of the people of 
India, China and Japan, a religion like ours, of millions and 
millions of people, had an earthly mother, but the great 
Spirit of Truth was supposed to be his father ; and although 
he lived in a family as Jesus did, the father of the family 
was not supposed to be his father. Zoroaster, the founder 
of the religion of Persia, was also said to have had such a 
miraculous birth. Surrounded by religions made up of such 
beliefs, it is not surprising that the early Christians thought 
the great founder of their religion must also have had a 
miraculous birth — that Mary of Nazareth was his mother, 



96 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

but that God himself was his father; and that later Jesus 
was thought to be the same as God, and that Christians 
believed that at one time God came to live upon the earth 
among men to teach them and heal them and save them 
from their sins. 

Such beliefs were very far from Jesus' thoughts. He 
believed he was the son of God as he believed all men who 
lived rightly were, and his work upon the earth was to 
show people how to be really the sons of God and live in 
His kingdom. 

It may have been in accord with the belief in the 
miraculous birth of Jesus that we have the following 
account of his baptism by John at the Jordan River : 

44 It came to pass in these days that Jesus came from 
Nazareth of Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. 
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the 
heavens opened and the spirit like a dove descending upon 
him. And there came a voice from heaven saying, 'Thou 
art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.' 3 

A very different kind of wonder story is told by the 
writer of the fourth gospel, the gospel of John. This is 
known as the miracle of the turning of the water into wine. 
According to the story there w r as a wedding in the 
little village of Cana, in Galilee, at which Jesus, his mother 
and the disciples were guests. There was not enough 
wine provided, and Mary, who knew that the supply was 
exhausted, suggested to Jesus that he overcome the diffi- 
culty by the use of his miraculous powers. She then 
advised the servants to follow his instructions exactly. 
"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it," she said. And there 
were sitting there six water pots of stone, containing two or 
three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, "Fill the water 
pots with water," and they filled them to the brim. And 
he said unto them, "Draw out now and bear unto the 
governor of the feast." And they bore it. When the ruler 
of the feast had tasted the w r ater that was made wine and 
knew not whence it came (but the servants which drew the 



Wonder Stories 97 

water knew), the governor of the feast called the bride- 
groom and saitfa unto him, "Every man at the beginning 
doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, 
then that which is worse ; but thou hast kept the good wine 
until now." 

"Six water pots containing two or three firkins apiece," 
the story says. A firkin was nine gallons, two or three 
firkins would be eighteen or twenty-seven gallons, and there 
were six water pots holding this large quantity. This 
sounds like a tremendous amount of wine to provide for 
one wedding, even if the wine w r ere of the mildest kind. 
One certainly cannot help wondering how such a story came 
to be written. 

Another wonder story is about Jesus walking upon the 
water in the Sea of Galilee. He had been preaching to 
great numbers of people and he asked his disciples to get 
into a ship and go over to the other side of the lake while 
he sent the multitudes away. It was his intention to join 
them later. 

"And when he had sent the multitudes away," the 
account says, "he went up into a mountain apart to pray; 
and when evening was come he was there alone. But the 
ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves ; 
for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the 
night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And 
when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were 
troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good 
cheer ; it is I ; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and 
said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the 
water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come 
down out of the ship he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 
But when he saw the wind was boisterous he was afraid, 
and beginning to sink he cried saying, Lord, save me. And 
immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught 
him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore 
didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship 
the wind ceased." 



98 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

This story may have been an exaggeration of the 
stilling of the tempest which he had in one of the earlier 
chapters, but we cannot be sure of it. Certain it is that 
after Jesus' death, when his followers realized that he had 
been a great man, many things were told of him in the effort 
to make other people believe in his greatness, which it seems 
to us could not have happened. 

Another wonder story is called The Miraculous Draft 
of Fishes. According to this story Jesus had been sitting 
in one of the boats of the fishermen of the Sea of Galilee 
preaching to the people who stood on the shore to listen; 
and when he was through speaking he said to Peter, 
"Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a 
draught/' Peter answered, "Master, we have toiled all 
night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word 
I will let down the net." The story continues, "When they 
had done this they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and 
their net broke. And they beckoned unto their partners 
which were in the other ship that they should come and 
help them, and they came and filled both the ships so that 
they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it he fell down 
at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me for I am a sinful 
man, O Lord. For he was astonished and all that were 
with him at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. 
And so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, which 
were partners with Peter. And Jesus said unto Peter, Fear 
not ; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they 
had brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed 
him." The older gospels, Matthew and Mark, tell of the 
calling of these early disciples in a perfectly natural way. 
Only in Luke, which was written later, do we find a wonder 
story connected with it. 

The next story which I have classed under the head of 
wonder stories is the Transfiguration, and I give it as I 
find it in the gospel of Mark: 

"And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter and 
James and John and bringeth them up into a high 



WONDER Stories gg 

mountain apart by themselves ; and he was transfigured 
before them : and his garments became glistening, exceeding 
white; so as no fuller on earth can whiten them. And there 
appeared unto them Elijah with Moses; and they were 
talking with Jesus. And Peter answereth and saith to 
Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here: and let us make 
three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses and one 
for Elijah. For he wist not what to answer for they 
became sore afraid. And there came a cloud overshadowing 
them : and there came a voice out of the cloud, This is my 
beloved son: hear ye him. And suddenly looking round 
about, they saw no one any more, save Jesus only with 
themselves. ,, 

We come now to the last of the wonder stories given 
in the gospels — the story of the Resurrection. Large num- 
bers of the Jews of Jesus' time believed in the possibility of 
a man's coming back to life after his death. All the way 
from Persia this belief had come, and people thought it 
might occur with any man at any time after his death. We 
are told in the New Testament that Herod Antipas, when 
he first heard of Jesus, was afraid he was John the Baptist, 
whom he had just beheaded, come to life again. Other 
people are said to have thought he was Elijah or Jeremiah 
or one of the other prophets come back to the earth; so it 
was an easy thing for the people of that time to believe that 
Jesus came to life again after the crucifixion. They even 
believed that he had promised that he would return to the 
earth a few days after his death. Here is the story : 

"When Joseph (of Arimathea) had taken the body he 
wrapped it in a clean cloth and laid it in his own new tomb 
which he had hewn out of the rock and he rolled a great 
stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed. Now in 
tw-o days the chief priests and Pharisees came together 
unto Pilate saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver 
said while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise 
again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made 
sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night 



ioo A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen 
from the dead, so that the last error shall be worse than 
the first. Pilate said unto them, You have a watch, go your 
way, make it as sure as you can. So they went and made 
the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. " 
The next morning, the story continues, two women who had 
believed in Jesus, visited the sepulchre. "And behold, there 
was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord de- 
scended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone 
from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like 
lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of 
him the keepers did shake and become as dead men. And 
the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not, for 
I know that you seek Jesus which was crucified. He is 
not here, for he is risen from the dead; and behold he 
goeth before you into Galilee. There you shall see him. 
Lo I have told you. And they departed quickly from the 
sepulchre with fear and great joy and did run to bring his 
disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, 
behold Jesus met them, saying, All hail ! And they came 
and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Then said 
Jesus unto them, Be not afraid, go tell my brethren that 
they go into Galilee and there shall they see me. Now 
when they were going, behold some of the watch came into 
the city and showed unto the chief priests all the things 
that were done. And when they had assembled with the 
elders and had taken counsel, they gave large sums of 
money unto the soldiers, saying, Say you his disciples came 
by night and stole him away while we slept. And so they 
took the money and did as they were taught, and this saying 
is commonly repeated among the Jews until this day." 

The account in the gospel of Matthew tells us that the 
eleven disciples went to Galilee and there met Jesus in a 
mountain, where he had told them to look for him, and that 
he talked with them, telling them to carry his teachings to 
all the nations of the earth. In the gospel of Luke we have 
a different ending to the story. Luke says Jesus met the 



Wonder Stories ioi 

disciples in Jerusalem "and led them out as far as Bethany 
and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came 
to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them and 
carried up into heaven and they worshipped him and re- 
turned to Jerusalem with great joy." 



io2 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 



Chapter XIII. 
LATER STORIES. 

We have seen that what we know about the life of 
Jesus is contained in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke 
and John. As time went on and Christianity had more 
believers, other people wrote accounts of Jesus' life, but 
the stories in these accounts are so extravagant that they 
are not considered true in any way and are therefore not 
published with those in the New Testament. 

These accounts are called the Apocryphal Gospels, 
apocryphal meaning not accepted as true. Some of the 
stories sound like the Arabian Nights, which is not sur- 
prising, for certainly at that time the Arabian Nights were 
familiar stories in the East and were likely to form models 
for stories written with the desire to increase the fame of 
the founder of Christianity. 

Here is one of the stories : "And when the Lord Jesus 
was seven years of age he was on a certain day with his 
companions about the same age, who when they were at 
play made clay into several shapes, namely asses, oxen, 
birds and other figures — each boasting of his work and 
endeavoring to exceed the rest. Then the Lord Jesus said 
to the boys, I will command these figures which I have 
made to walk. And immediately they moved, and when he 
commanded them to return, they returned. He had also 
made the figures of birds and sparrows which when com- 
manded to fly did fly and when commanded to stand still 
did stand still, and if he gave them meat and drink, they 
did eat and drink. " 



Later Stories 103 

Another story tells of his helping his father with his 
carpenter work by changing the size of things miraculously. 
"Joseph, when he went," the story says, "took the Lord 
Jesus with him, when he was sent for to make gates or milk 
pails or sieves or boxes. And as often as Joseph had any- 
thing in his work to make longer or shorter or wider or 
narrower the Lord Jesus would stretch his hand toward it 
and presently it became as Joseph would have it, so that 
he had no need to finish anything with his own hands. On 
a certain time the king of Jerusalem sent for him and said, I 
would have thee make me a throne of the same dimensions 
with that place in which I commonly sit. Joseph obeyed 
and forthwith began the work and continued two years in 
the king's palace before he finished it. And when he came 
to fix it in its place, he found it wanted two spans on each 
side of the appointed measure. Which, when the king saw, 
he was very angry with Joseph. And Joseph, afraid of the 
king's anger, went to bed without his supper, taking not 
anything to eat. Then the Lord Jesus asked him what he 
was afraid of. Joseph replied, Because I have lost my 
labor in work which I have been about these two years. 
Jesus said to him, fear not, neither be cast down. Do thou 
lay hold on one side of the throne and I will on the other 
and we will bring it to its just dimensions. And when 
Joseph had done as the Lord Jesus said, and each of them 
had with strength drawn his side, the throne obeyed and 
was brought to the proper dimensions of the place/' 

There are other stories much more like those of the 
Arabian Nights. 

According to these stories Jesus could put cloth into 
fire, so that it was burned and then restore it to its original 
texture and color; and he could restore men to human 
shape who had been changed by witchcraft into animals. 

These stories, however, add nothing to Jesus' great- 
ness. We do not even need the wonder stories of the Bible 
to convince us that Jesus was a great man. His life of help- 
fulness among the poor and suffering of his country is a 



104 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

much surer proof of that; and his great love for everybody, 
even those who had done wrong, shows more plainly than 
anything else that be could see very far into the future to a 
time far beyond ours when the world will be a different 
world in many ways from what it is now. Then the people 
on the earth will be like one great family. All the nations 
of the world will form a family of nations and every nation 
will help every other nation as if they were brothers and 
sisters. The people of one nation will be like one family 
and will help each other as if they were brothers and 
sisters, and the same will be true of the people of one 
city. It is good for us to know the stories of Jesus' life 
because they show that it is possible for men to live together 
as brothers. 

The earth was made beautiful and large that all men 
might enjoy it. It is large enough for everybody to have 
plenty of room, an abundance of good air and sunshine 
and plenty of food without crowding and fighting other 
people for them ; and the highest of all laws is that men 
must have such a feeling of consideration for each other 
that they will want to live in this way. 

When this highest law is fulfilled and all men have 
right feelings about life, a wonderful change will come on 
the earth — just the sort of change that Jesus called the 
kingdom of heaven. The most remarkable thing about it 
will be that men and women will no longer have any fear 
of each other. One of the saddest things in this world is 
that there are some people who have evil feelings in their 
hearts that cause them to be a menace to the communities 
in which they live. Other people therefore fear them and 
have to protect themselves against them. 

There are two things which must take the place of the 
evil feelings of those wrongdoers before they can become 
right doers. These are unselfishness and purity of heart. 
Selfishness, impurity and ignorance are to blame for all the 
hatred, cruelty and wrongdoing in the world. 

We have many stories showing how Jesus tried to lead 



Later Stories 105 

people out of ignorance and to teach them to be unselfish — 
to follow the Golden Rule and treat others as they would 
like to be treated. 

I am going to tell you now a story about purehearted- 
ness which was inspired by Jesus' purity of heart. It is not 
a Bible story and it was written hundreds of years after 
Jesus lived. You will understand when you hear it that it 
cannot be a true story, but it has so much of truth in it that 
it is good for us to know it. 

Joseph of Arimathea is said to have left Palestine some 
years after Jesus' death to go to Britain — which, like Pales- 
tine, belonged to Rome — to teach the people about Jesus 
and his law of brotherly love. He took with him the cup 
that Jesus drank from at the last Passover supper which he 
and his disciples ate together. Perhaps Joseph was one of 
the company. At any rate, he seems to have secured the 
cup in remembrance of Jesus. 

During his pilgrimage to England, Joseph rested one 
day by the little river Brue, sticking his staff in the ground 
by his side. While he rested a most surprising thing hap- 
pened. The staff took root and from it grew a thorn tree 
which blossomed every Christmas day. Because of this 
Joseph built here a little church of twisted twigs, the first 
Christian church in England. The place is now called 
Glastonbury. 

The cup is supposed to have been handed down from 
father to son and remarkable things are told about it. If a 
good man possessed it, it would do wonderful things for 
him; such as supplying him with food or making a few 
loaves of bread into a great many that he might supply large 
numbers of people with food. Only the perfectly pure man, 
however, could see it. Any one else is blinded by its 
brightness. 

In these stories it is called the Holy Grail; for the 
word Grail comes from a Latin word meaning cup. Later 
stories connect the Holy Grail with King Arthur's knights ; 
for at Glastonbury, which was once known as Avalon, King 



106 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

Arthur is supposed to have died, and to have been buried 
near the little church of twisted twigs. 

It is the story of this sacred cup, the Holy Grail, which 
could be seen only by the pure in heart — and Galahad, the 
purehearted knight of King Arthur's court, that I am going 
to tell you. 




Sir Galahad 



C F. Watts 



Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail 107 



Chapter XIV. 
SIR GALAHAD AND THE HOLY GRAIL. 

All of his young life Galahad had lived in a quiet abbey 
with twelve nuns who had used the greatest care in his 
training and bringing up. While he was still a boy, but 
almost a man, Sir Lancelot, a knight of King Arthur's 
court and a member of the "round table/' had made him a 
knight, and his heart was bursting with pride because of 
the honor conferred upon him. 

"My strength is as the strength of ten," 
he sang, 

"Because my heart is pure"; 
for Galahad knew that true knighthood meant not only 
strength and courage, it meant also purity of heart, and he 
intended to try to keep his heart pure so that he might be a 
true knight. 

Soon he would say farewell to the abbey which had 
been his home and to the nuns who had cared for him and 
go to serve his king. 

A few days after this the king who was holding his 
court at Camelot called all of his knights together for a 
great festival. When the knights assembled around the 
table to partake of the banquet the hall seemed unusually 
bright, and as Arthur was inquiring the cause of the bright- 
ness he was amazed to see at one place on the table some- 
thing written in large golden letters. "This is the seat of 
Sir Galahad the Purehearted" the king read ; but no one but 
Sir Lancelot knew that Sir Galahad was the beautiful boy 
he had just made a knight at the old abbey. "We will cover 
the bright letters until the knight of the pure heart comes," 
said Lancelot, laying a piece of silk over the shining words. 



io8 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

The knights then prepared to sit down to the feast ; but 
they were interrupted by Sir Kay, the steward of the king's 
kitchen. "You have forgotten," he said hastily to the king, 
"that you do not sit down to this feast until you have seen 
some strange adventure." 

The king confessed that the writing in gold had made 
him forget the time-honored custom. 

They had not long to wait, however, for almost imme- 
diately a squire entered the hall who, flushed with excite- 
ment, cried, "I have a strange tale to tell. As I came by 
the river I saw a great stone floating on the water, and into 
the stone was thrust a sword." 

The king and all the knights hurried down to the river 
bank, and there in truth was a stone like red marble, 
floating upon the surface of the water; and a sword w r ith a 
handle all studded with precious stones was thrust into it. 
Among the jewels w r ere letters of gold which read, "No one 
shall take me away but him to whom I belong. I will hang 
by the side of the best knight in the world." 

"That must mean you," said King Arthur, turning to 
Sir Lancelot. "For surely no truer knight lives than you." 

Sir Lancelot knew that there were times when he had 
not been a true knight, so he answered sadly, "No, the 
sword will never hang by my side. I dare not try to 
take it." 

The king then turned to Sir Gawain and suggested 
that he try. Sir Gawain hesitated for a moment; but the 
sword w r as strong and beautiful and he desired to possess 
it. As soon as he touched it, however, he was wounded in 
the arm so that he was helpless for many days. 

Next the king asked Sir Percival to try and he did so 
only because the king wished it ; but he could not move the 
sword. No one dared try after that, so the company 
returned to the banqueting hall, each knight taking his place 
at the "round table." All the seats were filled except the 
one opposite the writing in gold, which remained covered 
with the silk Sir Lancelot had placed over it. 



Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail [09 

Scarcely had they commenced the feast when another 
wonderful thing happened. All of the doors of the palace 
suddenly shut with a bang, although no one touched them ; 
and all of the windows were closed very softly, although no 
one closed them. Then one of the doors opened and an old 
man dressed all in white entered. With him was a young 
man in red armor, but he had neither sword nor shield and 
an empty sheath hung by his side. Every one was silent as 
the old man said, very slowly and solemnly, "I bring you 
the young knight Sir Galahad, who is descended from a 
king. He shall do many great deeds and he shall see the 
Holy Grail." 

"He shall see the Holy Grail!" the knights repeated, 
gazing upon the young man in wonder; for since their 
boyhood days they had heard of the sacred cup out of 
which Jesus drank the night before he died. They had 
heard stories about angels carrying it, and about its glowing 
in a great bar of light, but that no one ever really saw it 
unless he was pure in heart. Each knight began to wish 
that he had been a better man, for they realized that it was 
because they had not been good enough that none of them 
had seen the Holy Grail. 

Then the old man led the new knight to the empty 
chair and lifting the silk read, 'This is the seat of Sir 
Galahad the Purehearted" ; and Galahad took the seat while 
the old man went away. 

When the banquet was finished the king welcomed the 
young knight to the circle of the "round table," and then 
led him out of the palace and down to the river bank to 
where the red stone floated on the water, telling him as 
they went how the knights who had tried were unable to 
remove the sword. 

"This adventure must be mine," thought Galahad, "for 
my sheath is empty." To the king he said, "I will try to 
take the sword and place it in my sheath"; and laying his 
hand upon the wonderful sword he drew it easily out of 
the stone. 



no A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

The king then announced that there would be a tourna- 
ment in the Meadows of Camelot the next day; for Galahad 
must try his strength with the other knights. 

It was a beautiful sight to see the knights riding about 
on the Meadows of Camelot the following morning, their 
shining armor resplendant in the sunlight. There were 
many people gathered to watch the tournament, all eager 
to see what the new knight would do — he that was able to 
draw the sword out of the floating stone. Great was the 
enthusiasm when Galahad proved so strong that he over- 
threw many knights; but he could not overthrow Sir 
Lancelot and Sir Percival. 

Once more, when the tournament was over, the knights 
sat in their places at the round table; and as they eagerly 
discussed the events of the day they heard a loud crashing 
noise — a noise louder than thunder. At the same instant 
there came into the hall a light brighter than any sunbeam, 
so that all the faces of the knights shone with a glory they 
had never had before. Then slowly down the beam of light 
glided the Holy Grail; but only one of the knights really 
saw it, and he was Galahad, the Purehearted. 

The strange light faded away, but it had filled the 
knights with a longing to see the wonderful cup. With a 
sad heart King Arthur heard them vowing to go in search 
of it over land and sea and never to stop until they had 
found it. They seemed to have forgotten that only the pure 
in heart could see it. 

The next morning the streets were crowded with 
people. Rich and poor from all the country around had 
gathered to see the knights start off on their strange errand. 
The king was very, very sorrowful, for he knew that never 
again would the seats at the round table be filled. Many 
of the knights would never return to Camelot. Galahad, 
too, rode away with the others. Something in his heart 
told him that even he who had been promised the sight of 
the sacred cup and who had seen it once, could not hope to 
see it again unless he used his strength and courage in 



Sir Galahad and the HOLY Grail mi 

helping his fellowmen. He would go in search of oppor- 
tunities for giving such service. 

For four days Galahad rode without meeting any ad- 
venture. Then he came to a white abbey on a hillside where 
he found two other knights, one of whom was a king. 

"Why are you here?" asked Galahad; and the knights 
told him that in the abbey was a shield which if any man 
tried to carry he was either wounded or dead inside of 
three days. 

"But I shall try to carry it to-morrow T ," said the king. 

"No, let me do it," said Galahad, gravely, feeling quite 
sure that the shield was for him, for he was still without 
one. 

"If I fail you shall try," replied the king. At that a 
monk took Galahad and the king behind the altar to where 
the shield hung upon the wall. It was pure white with a 
red cross in the middle. "This shield," said the monk, "can 
be borne only by the best knight in the world." 

"I will try to bear it," still insisted the king, "though I 
am not a very good knight. " In the morning the king took 
the shield from where it hung and rode down into the valley. 

Galahad remained at the abbey, for the king had 
promised to send his squire back to tell of his luck with 
the shield. 

The king rode on for two miles through the valley, 
when he came to a hermit's cottage, and there he found a 
warrior dressed all in white armor and riding a pure white 
horse. 

Quickly the warrior rode toward the king, striking him 
so hard that he broke his armor, and piercing his shoulder 
with his spear as if he had had no shield. 

"Only the best knight in the world can carry that 
shield," said the warrior as he handed it to the squire to 
carry back to the abbey. "Take it to Sir Galahad with my 
greeting," he continued. "Then tell me your name," said 
the squire; but the warrior had disappeared and was seen 
no more by the squirt and the wounded king. 



ii2 A Life of Jesus for Boys and Girls 

First the squire took the king to the nearest abbey, 
where his wounds were cared for, then he returned to Sir 
Galahad with the shield. 'The warrior who wounded the 
king bids you wear this shield," he said ; and Sir Galahad 
rode off with the white shield hung about his neck to meet 
the white armored warrior as the king had done. At the 
hermitage the two met and saluted each other most cour- 
teously. The warrior then told Galahad many wonderful 
stories about the shield with its white ground and red cross 
and Galahad was glad it belonged to him. 

Again Sir Galahad rode back to the abbey where the 
monks were waiting for him. "We have need of a pure- 
hearted knight,'' said they, "for no other could do what we 
need to have done" ; and they led Galahad to a tomb in the 
churchyard. There he heard a great moaning, and a voice 
cried, "Galahad, Galahad, knight of the pure heart, do not 
come near me !" Galahad went to the tomb and raised the 
stone that covered it, for he was very brave. Immediately 
a thick black smoke arose, and in the smoke a hideous 
figure, uglier than any man ever was. "Galahad, Galahad," 
it shouted again, "Angels are round thee, protecting thee. I 
can do thee no harm." As the hideous creature vanished 
Galahad saw in the bottom of the tomb the body of a knight 
all dressed in armor. "This was evidently a false knight," 
he said, and they carried his body away from the church- 
yard. 

Stay and live with us in the abbey, entreated the 
monks ; but Galahad felt that his work there was finished. 
Again he rode away in search of an opportunity to be of 
service to some one. 

On and on he rode for many days, until at last he 
reached a mountain, and on the mountain he found an old 
abbey, empty and desolate. The young knight knelt down 
before the altar and prayed that God would direct him to 
some place where his help was needed, and a voice replied, 
"Go to the Castle of Maidens, thou brave knight, and rescue 
them." 



Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail 113 

With a much lighter heart Galahad rode on until he 
came to a large castle. Years before seven wicked knights 
had seized the castle from the maiden to whom it belonged 
and imprisoned her and many other maidens with her. At 
first the seven knights thought they would treat Galahad in 
the same way, but they soon found that, being purehearted, 
his strength was as the strength of ten, and they all became 
afraid and ran for their lives. An old man then gave the 
keys of the castle to Galahad, who opened the gates and set 
the captives free. 

From this time on Galahad was never without the pres- 
ence of the Holy Grail. Day and night it was a beacon 
leading him on to deeds of helpfulness. By day its light 
was dim, but by night it shone with such brightness that the 
darkest valleys and the most winding and treacherous roads 
were lighted and made easy to travel. Many were the 
downtrodden and oppressed who were helped by the 
strength and courage of Galahad, and the greater the task 
the greater the brightness of the sacred cup, showing the 
way, and the greater the strength of the purehearted knight 
to do the work. 

At last one day, with the Holy Grail still leading him, 
Galahad reached the sea. Close by the shore was a ship 
which was apparently waiting for him. This he entered 
and was blown by the winds out into the deep water. On 
and on the ship went until it reached a rocky shore, and 
there it was caught between two great rocks and could go 
no further. A smaller vessel was waiting, however, and 
into this Galahad stepped and was taken to a little harbor 
along the coast where he was safely landed. The harbor 
was the port of a great city, and here, among the poor and 
suffering, Galahad went about doing good — always cheered 
and comforted by the presence of the wonderful cup. Into 
the darkest and saddest homes he went taking gladness with 
him. The sick and the sorrowing he helped as Jesus had 
helped them. At last the king of the country, who was a 
cruel tyrant, heard of his work. "The knight can be no 



ii4 A Life of Jesus fob Boys and Girls 

true knight/' he said, "for knights do not engage in such 
deeds as these/' He took Galahad and shut him up in a 
dungeon under his palace where it was dark and cold. For 
a long time Galahad stayed there, but down into the dark- 
ness streamed a wonderful light, lor Galahad was never 
without the Holy Grail. 

After a while the cruel king became very ill and was 
afraid he would die. He remembered the knight he had 
imprisoned in the dungeon and was filled with remorse. He 
called for Galahad to be brought to him and asked his 
forgiveness for his cruel treatment. Galahad willingly for- 
gave the king, for, being the best knight in the world, he 
could forgive even such a great injury as this. 

Finally the king died and the people wondered what 
they should do for another ruler. While they were talking 
about it and trying to find out what to do, some one remem- 
bered the good knight, and they all agreed to make him 
king, and in great joy they crowned him. 

For a year the new king ruled the country well and 
wisely. "Just a year since they made me king," thought 
Galahad as he awoke in the morning. He resolved to get 
up early and go to the chapel adjoining his palace and pray 
for the knowledge to rule his people wisely. 

It was very early when Galahad entered the chapel, 
which was filled with the beautiful rose-colored light of the 
Holy Grail which rested on the altar — and there before it 
some one was kneeling. Galahad was surprised, for he 
thought no one else would be awake. As he looked more 
closely he saw that the man was surrounded by a circle of 
angels and that he looked holy as the saints look. Could it 
be that Christ himself was there? Galahad, too, fell on his 
knees before the sacred cup, and as he prayed his soul left 
his body and was carried by the angels to heaven. 

This, then, is the story of Sir Galahad and the Holy 
Grail — a story which grew up hundreds of years after 
Jesus' death when men believed that they could bring about 
the kingdom of God by wearing armor of steel and carrying 



Sir Galahad axd the Holy Grail 115 

swords and shields. Even though they misunderstood his 
teaching, they could not forget that it was only the pure in 
heart who could know the highest joy of the new kingdom; 
who could hear the Father speaking in their hearts as Jesus 
did in his, so plainly that they would feel as if they saw 
him. You remember that Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure 
in heart, for they shall see God." To the people who told 
the story of the Holy Grail, it was the symbol of God, and 
only the best knight in the world, the purehearted Galahad, 
could see it. 






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